
Glass. 



Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



I 
PHYSICAL SURVEY OF VIRGINIA.; 

HER RESOURCES, 

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT. 

No. II. 

BY 

M. F. MAURY, LL D., Etc., Etc. 

Late Professor of Physics, Virginia Military Institute, 

WITH 

NOTES AND ADDITIONS BY HIS SON. 

JULY 1, 1877. 
Published by direction of the Board of Immigration, and by authority of law. 




-^B3i£ ^ M p E R m ^am. 



N. V. RANDOLPH, 

1302 and 1304 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 

1878. 



COPYRIGHTED 
1878, 

BY 

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. 



PHYSICAL SUUVEY OF VIRGINIA, 



HER RESOURCES, 

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT. 

No. II. 

BY 

/ 

M. F. MAURY, LL, D., Etc., Etc. 

Late Professor of Physics, Virginia '^il-itary Institute, 

■ff'ITH 

NOTES AND ADDITIONS BY HIS SON. 

JULY 1, 1877. 

Published by direction of the, Board of Immigration, and by authority of law. 



N. V. RANDOLPH, 
1302 and 1304 Main Street, Richmond, Va. 

1878. 



"^ PKELIMINARY REPORT. 

^ No. 2. 

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTION. 

The State of Virginia includes an area of 41,000 square miles, and a 
white population of 712,089 souls. This allows 37 acres on the average 
to every white man, woman and child in the Commonwealth. 

n Belgium the average is an acre and a half to the inhabitant. 

/irginia lies between the parallels of 36° 30' and 39° 30' N. lat., 

ich answers geographically to the southern half of Spain and Portu- 

• , Sicily, Greece and Turkey. As to climate, the chief difference be- 

een theirs and the climates of Virginia is in favor of Virginia. She 

better watered than they, and cultivation is carried on without artifi- 

"al irrigation ; but her climates are more continental, and therefore 

lOt so equable as the countries above named. 

Virginia may, for the convenience of the stranger who wishes to un- 
derstand her agricultural resources, and make himself acquainted Avith 
her climates and productions, be divided into four climatic belts which 
range along parallel with the sea coasts and mountains. The first belt 
lies between the sea shore and the head of tidewater. The tides extend 
as far up as Georgetown, ten miles above Alexandria, and up to Fred- 
ericksburg, Petersburg and Weldon ; and a line drawn with a free hand 
through these places on the map will show this belt. It is the tidewater 
belt. 

THE TIDEWATER BELT. 

The counties in this belt are : Northampton and Accomac on the 
Eastern Shore; and Princess Anne, Norfolk, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, 
Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Prince George, Elizabeth City, Warwick, 
York, James City, Charles City, New Kent, Henrico, Gloucester, Mat- 
thews, Middlesex, King and Queen, King William, Essex, Caroline, Lan- 
caster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, King George, Staf- 
ford, Prince William, Fairfax and Alexandria. In this belt the winters 
are mild, snow seldom lies on the ground (for more than) a week at a 
time, and in summer a large portion of it is refreshed by the sea breezes, 
which, as the land becomes cleared, extend farther and farther inland, 
reaching in very hot weather to the foot of the Blue Ridge. 



In certain parts of this Belt, the fig, the pomegranate, the yellow jes- 
samine, magnolia and other tender plants flourish in the open air. In 
the southern tier of its counties, cotton is one of the staple productions- 
According to the last census, they produced 12,727 bales in 1870. Be- 
sides the five large rivers that traverse the Tidewater Belt entirely, it is 
reticulated with a large number of arms and creeks of the Chesapeake 
Bay, most of which are navigable as far as the tides ebb and flow. These 
navigable water-ways give the inhabitants of this part of the State pecu- 
liar advantages, for they afibrd free and convenient access to the sea, and 
cheap conveyance to all the markets of the Seaboard, alnd until the in- 
troduction of railways, made this part of Virginia, or the " low coun- 
try," as it was called, the most desirable part of the State. Here the 
early settlers established themselves, and here are found those elegant 
mansions and baronial estates which made Virginian hospitality a house- 
hold word in all parts of the country. Some of the largest plantations 
n the State are still found in this belt. 

Its staple agricultural productions are wheat and maize, with oats, 
peas, beans and barley. These are the heavy crops. The cotton area 
is of limited extent ; it reaches no further up into Virginia than the 
counties of Nansemond and Southampton, but the plants will mature in 
the open air as far up as the Rappahannock river. 

The small farmers and truckmen cultivate profitably for market a great 
variety of articles, such as potatoes, sweet and Irish, peanuts, fruits and 
vegetables of all sorts that thrive in the temperate zone, among which 
may be mentioned the following : apples and pears, peaches, plum, and 
figs, grapes, apricots, pomegranates, cherries, damsons, raspberries, 
strawberries, currants, melons, green peas, asparagus, cucumbers, gher- 
kins, pumpkins, cymlins, squashes, egg plants, okra, tomatoes, kale, cab- 
bages, turnips, carrots, parsnips, ruta baga, mangold wurzel, beets, sal- 
safy, onions, shives, shalotts, lettuce, artichokes, celery, spinach, &c. 

Growing wild we have grapes, scuppernongs, persimmons, blackberries, 
gooseberries, pokcberries, alderberries, night shade, strawberries, cher- 
ries, plums, whortleberries, walnuts (black and white), hickory nuts, 
hazel nuts, chestnuts, chinquapins, raspberries, crab apples, haws (black 
and red), paw-paws, and may-apples. On account of the mildness of 
the winters, and the convenient water carriage aff"orded by the steamers 
which ply on the Chesapeake and its tributaries, trucking — that is, the 
growing of fruits and vegetables of the season for the Northern markets 
— has become an important branch of industry. All parts of this belt 
are within a few hours of Baltimore and Washington, and most of it lies 
within 24, and much within 36 hours of New York, and quite near 



i 



enough to serve as market gardens for those large cities, which, including 
Philadelphia and their suburbs, with the neighboring towns, contain a 
population in the aggregate equal to that of London. 

Let one conceive the advantage of a district populated as this is, and 
no larger, having a monopoly for three months with the early fruits and 
vegetables as they annually come into season in the markets of London, 
and then he may form an estimate as to the importance and value which 
this trucking business is assuming. 

Owing to the difference of climate, the markets of those places can be 
supplied from the gardens and orchards of the Chesapeake at least that 
much earlier with every fruit and vegetable as it comes in season than 
they can by the gardeners in their own vicinity. Every year, at the 
proper season, a fleet of steamers is engaged in transporting northward 
fruits and vegetables from the Chesapeake, and those who understand 
fruit and horticulture make large profits. The markets of Northampton 
are abundantly supplied with new potatoes early in June. The value of 
fruit grown in the tidewater and carried to Baltimore for market (Balti- 
more is the chief place for canning both fruit and oysters), is estimated 
to be several millions of dollars annually. Some place it as high as 
$8,000,000. I assume it to be more than $5,000,000. Peaches are the 
most valuable fruit for canning. 

Five or six thousand dollars from a few acres in berries, green peas, 
tomatoes and fruits, such as one family, with a little help in gathering 
time, can manage, is by no means an uncommon yield. Gardeners who 
are skillful, sober, saving and industrious, rarely fail to enrich them- 
selves in this business. Last year [1870] a widow near Noifolk sold her 
pear crop on a few acres for $8,000. None of the fruits and vegetables 
are grown under glass. 

In a recent season, prior to the 4th of June, 10,000,000 quarts of 
strawberries and 200,000 barrels of green peas were stated by the Nor- 
folk papers to have been shipped from that port to Northern markets. 

The United States Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report for 
1871, pp. 145-4G, says : 

" Mr. G. F. B. Leighton has an extensive pear orchard near Norfolk, 
Va., in which it is claimed have been raised the largest and finest pears 
on the continent. The orchard available for marketing embraces about 
5,200 trees ; another orchard, designed more particularly for experi- 
mental purposes, includes about 1,000 trees. Of the former, 1.200 were 
planted in the winter of 1866-67 ; 2,000 in the winter of 1867-68 ; 
2,000 in the winter of 1868-9, in a clay soil underlaid at the depth of 
five to ten feet with sharp sand sinking into quicksand. Dwarf trees 
are planted twelve and one half feet apart each way, in holes three and 
one half feet square and three feet deep. To secure perfect drainage, a 



6 

post auger hole is bored down to the sand and filled with oyster shells, 
about a'bushel of the shells being left in the bottom of the large hole. 
Then about six inches of finely cut brush (hard wood) are added, and the 
hole filled up with a top soil mixed with a compost of muck, woods earth, 
and lime. The fresh muck is seasoned with a small quantity of salt. 

In planting, the bunch at the joining of the quince and pear stocks, 
is placed two inches below the ground. No crops are allowed in the 
orchard, except occasionally the black pea, to be turned under as a fer- 
tilizer. The pear tree, which requires a rich soil, is often injured by the 
presence of other crops. Mr. Leighton finds that the energies of the 
soil must be given exclusively to this fruit, or the culture will not be 
profitable. lie avoids barn-yard manure, but supplies bone and ashes, 
when the trees come into bearing, for fruit food. He finds the following 
requisites for successful culture in Eastern Virginia : 

1. Perfect drainage. 

2. Stiffest clay soil. 

3. Proper planting of trees. 

4. Clean culture. 

5. Healthy trees. 

6. Timely supply of proper food for growth of both fruit and wood. 

7. Determination, patience, and suifioient of the sacrificing spirit to re- 
move all fruit until the tree has sufiicient wood to sustain it, without 
checking the wood growth. 

8. Judicious pruning [better none than too much]. 

9. Careful picking, packing and handling the packages. 
10. The right kind of an agent to dispose of them. 

At the recent exhibition of the American Pomological Society at R.ich- 
mond, Mr. Leighton exhibited three Duchess d'Angoulemes grown on 
the same tree, of which two weighed thirty and a half ounces each, and 
the other twenty-four and a half. His trees of this variety averaged 
about a bushel each. When California pears were selling at $9. he re- 
ceived ^12 per box for these pears and $11 for Bartletts. His orchard 
is composed mainly of these varieties. In quality of fruit he, last year, 
surpassed the famous pears of California. 

Fertilizers. — This belt is underlaid throughout its entire extent by 
beds of marl, both eocene and mioeene, of excellent quality ; it often 
crops out on hillsides and in river banks, and is generally not too far 
below the surface to prevent its being advantageously dug and used. 

The kind known as "White" marl abounds in the Peninsula; it con- 
tains from 75 to 95 per cent, of carbonate of lime. Blue marl is found 
in the western part of this belt. Green sand marl abounds in Hanover, 
New Kent, and King George counties ; it is very rich — phosphorus, pot- 
ash and ammonia being among its ingredients. Besides these, there is 
also the ferruginous marl. 

THE FISHERIES. 

The waters of the Chesapeake are of themselves a bountiful source of 



supply, and a mine of wealth to the people immediatley upon its shores. 
There is no other sheet of water in the country that supplies such an 
abundance of excellent fish. It is owned by Virginia and iMaryland 
jointly. 

Baltimore is the chief place where the oysters, as well as the fruita 
and vegetables, are packed and canned, although this industry is now as- 
suming large proportions in and around Norfolk and in other parts of 
the tidewater belt. They are sent to all parts of this country, and even 
to Europe, 

I have not been able to procure as accurate returns as I desire, con- 
cerning the oyster trade, the fruit business, or the fisheries of the State. 
Baltiraoreans estimate the annual value of their canned oysters and 
fruits at ^15,000,000, which is about the value of the entire sugar crop 
of Louisiana. From the best information I have been able to obtain, it 
appears that there is a fleet of 1,700 vessels averaging 50 tons each, 
and over 3,000 smaller ones, manned by 5,000 hands, and employed 8 
months during the year, in the oyster fisheries of the Chesapeake alone. 
Many of the ojsters gathered by this fleet are sold in the shell for im- 
mediate consumption. In winter the oyster cellars of St. Louis, St, Paul, 
Chicago, and other inland towns, as well as those of New York, Balti- 
more and Philadelphia are supplied with them fresh from the shell. It 
is estimated that more than ten millions of bushels of them are gath- 
ered annually, and the value of this fishery alone is supposed by those 
who are best acquainted with it, to be at this time not less than $10,000, 
000. 

The United States Agricultural Commission, in a recent report (1868^ 
to the President, estimates the area of the oyster beds of the Chesapeake 
and its tributaries at 3,000 square miles. He says that good planting 
grounds are leased at various prices per acre, varying from $50 to 8-^00 
a year ; that he has known plantations covered by from 3 to 7 feet of 
water to be sold at ^1,000 per acre ; and that the most valuable groundg 
command still higher prices, [Agricultural report of 18G8, page 343.] 

It is only a small part of this vast and productive area that is litteral 
and is cultivated and private .property. Most of it is commons, upon 
which all who choose may fish. 

Next in importance to the oyster business are the herring and shad 
business of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, and Albemarle Sound, 

A catch of half a million herrings at a single haul is by means no uncom- 
mon. Sometimes so many fish are brought ashore in the seine that there is 
not force to clean and cure them. They are then used as manure on the 
neighboring farms. These fisheries are in full operation only for « 
month or six weeks during the Spring. 



8 

There are, however, other fisheries which last all the year, for sup- 
plying the daily markets of the adjacent country with fresh fish,' 

This is an industry which has also been greatly enlarged since the in- 
troduction of the steamboat and railway. The fresh fish of the Chesapeake 
are packed in ice and sent to all places that may, within 24 or 36 hours, be 
reached by rail or water. Among the fish so treated are the sturgeon, 
the rock, the shad, the sheepshead, hogfish, trout, mullet, perch, &c., 
with a great variety of pan fish and crabs. 

Upon these waters, and in this belt, the terrapin, the canvass-back 
duck,* with other delicacies, attain their greatest perfection. The 
other game birds are geese, swans, the blue-wing, and other ducks, 
plover, partridge, pheasants, sora, and wild turkeys. The smaller animals 
are also found in great abundance, such as squirrels, hares, foxes, &;c. All 
are free to fish and shoot on the Bay and rivers, so that a poor man 
here can always find the means of subsistence and a source of revenue. 

Dr. Franklin, of West River, one of the tributaries of the Chesapeake, 
kindly undertook to procure statistics relating to the fisheries of this Bay. 
He was not able to obtain any with regard to the principle fisheries, but 
tells me that from his landing there were shipped during the last season, 
from June 3d to November 9th, to the city of Philadelphia alone, 41, 
880 dozen crabs, worth at the landing 30 cents the dozen. He supposes 
this to be about one-twentieth of all the hard crabs taken'; from the up- 
per part of the Bay alone. The soft crabs, he estimates to be about one- 
fourth of this number. 

Terrapins are found in all the small tributaries, and are sent in large 
quantities to market. They sell at prices varying from §3 to %oO the 
dozen. Fresh fish are caught in untold myriads. 

Vast numbers of wild ducks too, such as canvass-back, red-neck, blue- 
wing, mallad black-head, widgeon, &c., the most valuable being the can- 
vass-back and red-neck from the Potomac river, are killed for market. 
Canvass-backs in Baltimore bring from $2.50 to $4.00 the pair. 

Travellers from Europe, especially the Germans, who visit Virginia 
generally remark upon two things in particular, one is the habitual waste of 
bread, and the other that they see so few beggars or paupers. In many 
parts of the State beggars, unless they be of the professional sort from 
abroad, are unknown. I grew up to manhood before I ever saw one 
seeking charity. 

THE FOREST. 

Oak, sycamore, maple, hickory, walnut, locust, ash, cedar, pine, pop- 
lar, chestnut, birch, gum, cypress, persimmon, sassafras, mulberry, 
myrtle, holly, &c., are the chief forest trees in this belt. 

* The value of the ducks taken on tlie Potomac alone is estimated to be $50,000, 
aud the fish, exclusive of oysters, at $300,000 annually. 



9 

Owing to the abundance and the quality of the timber, and the facil- 
ity of transportation afforded by the rivers, creeks, and bays, a large 
quantity finds its way to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New 
York and other cities, as shiptimber, firewood, staves, hoops and shingles. 

LAND. 

The price of land in this belt, as everywhere else, varies with its quality, 
its locality, and the improvements upon it. Lands here, with improve- 
ments upon them, may be had from prices varying from $5 to $50 or 
even $150 the acre. Unimproved lands can be had for much less, and 
■when judiciously selected, the natural growth upon them will be more 
than sufficient to supply the purchase money. 

SUMAC. 

In this belt, and throughout the State generally, sumac grows wild. 
It is found in the poorest places, and is beginning to form a branch of 
industry which promises to be valuable. It is extensively used by the 
tanners ; and the Sicilian, which is of inferior quality, commands §125 
per ton in Liverpool market. 

I have before me the copy of a circular of Alexander S. Macrae, of 
Liverpool, a dealer in sumac, and quote a few passages from it. 

"Importation here from Sicily in one day, 6,417 bags. Exported to 
America in one day, 1,200 bags. Before me lie a dozen certified tests 
of Sicilian and American [Virginian] sumac, and the average of these 
tests proves, beyond any question of doubt, that the American is 10 per 
cent, to 20 per cent, superior to any other the world produces ; for in- 
stance, 

Finest Sicilian. 
'Lead Seal,' Tojero' and 'Ne Plus Ultra.' 

Tannin .- 23.65. 

Sand 1.00. 

Vegetable Fibre 75.35. 

100.00. 
Finest American. 

'Virginian.' 

Tannin 30.00. 

Sand 50. 

Vegetable Fibre 69.50. 

100.00." 

Large areas are covered with it in Virginia, and vast quantities might 

be gathered annually, but like other resources of this State, which still 

lie dormant, not the least attention was paid either to sumac, or to oak 

bark for Quircitron, until the pressure caused by the war compelled peo- 



10 

pie to look about them. Preparing sumac for market is new to the counti'y 
people. They do not know how to gather it or to cure it properly. They 
lack mills for grinding, and other facilities for getting it into the market. 
Judging of the quantity that one sees growing wild, and of which even 
those who own the land take no note, it is not too much to say that if 
properly attended to, the sumac trade would soon, vie in importance 
with the tobacco trade of Virginia. 

HEALTH. 
There are no diseases peculiar to this belt, or to any part of Virginia. 
Those to which her people are liable are such as afflict the inhabitants 
of corresponding latitudes in other parts of the temperate zone. The 
most common complaints, however, are fevers of the intermittent type. 
No rates of mortality are kept in the country, but if we take those of 
Norfolk and other cities within the belt as an index, we shall find that 
the death rate among the whites of the Old Dominion is less than it is 
in any of the great cities of Europe ; it is also only about one-half that 
of the blacks. For example : The death rate in Norfolk, which is 
generally considered not so healthy as Petersburg, Richmond and Fred- 
ericksburg, averages, for the two years ending with 1889, for which I 
have the returns, 16 in 1,000. In New York it is 20 in 1,000; in 
London, 24; in Vienna, 29, and in Berlin, 31. 

WATEfl. 

Good springs abound, but in warm neighborhoods the people depend 
upon wells. These vary in depth, according to locality, from 10 to 60 feet. 
In digging, you often pass through beds of marl, in which case the water 
is hard. It is sometimes also impregnated with iron, but as a rule it is 
soft and very good. 

SOIL. 

The soil in the Tidewater belt is, for the most part, sandy. In some 
places it is clay. It is thin on the hills, but exceedingly rich and pro- 
ductive in the valleys and river bottoms. The lands along the Meher- 
rin, Nottaway, and Black Water, the James, York and Rappahannock 
rivers, and the water courses generally, are celebrated for their fertility. 
They are fine for wheat and corn; and some of them are sold as high as 
$150 per acre. There is an abundance of marl and green sand through- 
out tliis region, with here and there valuable deposits of muck and peat. 
All the lands arc susceptible of improvement, and most of them of a 
very high degree. Many of the hill lands have been worn out by long 
cultivation, shallow plowing and want of fertilizers of all kind. These 
have grown up in pine, and need again to be cleared for cultivation. 

Yield 9 Mr. Robert Binford, of Mulberry Hill, Isle of Wight county, 



11 

gives me the following information concerning the lands in that part of 
the belt ; remarks of like purport are applicable to the Southside coun- 
ties in it : 

" The largest amount of corn which I know to have been raised in up- 
lands in this county, was 105 bushels to the acre on a lot ef several 
acres which was highly manured, deeply broken and thoroughly cultiva- 
ted. 1, myself, have made 18 barrels, equal to 90 bushels, per acre in 
four contiguous acres without manure, but it was on bottom land 
thoroughly pulverized, though imperfectly drained, and with a propitious 
season. My last year's crop averaged, on 30 acres of the same land, 
40 bushels per acre after having passed though a severe drouth. It 
then had to encounter a hurricane, which blew a large portion to the 
ground and lodged almost the whole of it, and that in the most critical 
stage of growth, which is about the time of tasseling. This crop was 
raised on land which, 30 years ago, was not considered to be worth, for 
agricultural purposes, the meagre amount of taxes then exacted on it. 
There is a considerable amount of land of a kindred character in this 
region awaiting the hand of industry and energy to develop it." 

Estimates ? With the view of furnishing immigrants and strangers, 
desirous of settling in Virginia, the best information that can be obtained 
without actual visit and examination, each for himself, I addressed to the 
farmers, in all parts of the State, circular letters, asking each to furnish 
such information in regard to his own county and neighborhood, and from 
his own experience, as intelligent and prudent emigrants would most de- 
sire to have. Among other things, in particular, this circular asked each 
one to state the price of land and labor in his own neighborhood, its 
staple productions, the yield per acre, the convenience to markets, 
schools and churches, &c., with the request that each would submit a 
pro forma estimate for the guidance of emigrants, and allow me to refer 
them to him for further information and for such friendly services and 
neighborly assistance as a stranger coming to settle among them would 
most stand in need of. To this they readily assented, and thus the im- 
migrants who choose to settle among us have friends to go to at once. 
The names and addresses of these gentlemen are given in connection 
with their reports. 

The estimate they were asked to submit, supposed the case of a young 
married man coming to settle in his neighborhood, with a wife and child, 
and who was well up to his business — industrious, sober and saving, and 
with $500 in gold [£100] in his pocket. 

Each correspondent was requested to consider a stranger in these cir- 
cumstances desirous of purchasing 40 acres of land with a view of es- 
tablishing himself upon it, and then he was asked to give an estimate of 
the expenses and profits he might reasonably expect to make by the in- 
vestment. 



12 

Colonel Cutshaw, one of my assistants, was also employed during the 
greater part of an entire year in riding through the different parts of 
the State, visiting the faraiers and seeking information for the benefit of 
immigrants. These reports and this information I now proceed to con- 
dense and discuss. 

Bet^inning with the Eastern counties in this belt, the first report in 
order is that of Dr. Thom, postoflSce Eastville, Northampton county : 

Aspects? Area of county about 180 square miles. Fronts east on 
the Atlantic ocean and west on Chesapeake bay. Surface nearly a dead 
level. Soil generally light and sandy, easily worked and very gener- 
ous in return for improvements. 

Industries ? Farming is the chief business ; many are also engaged 
in seafaring and fishing. 

Health? Intermittent and remittent fevers prevail in August and 
September in a mild form ; rest of the year healthy. 

Water? Wells in universal use — 10 to 20 feet deep. Water good. 

Staple Productions? Corn, oats, potatoes (Sweet and Irish), cab- 
bages, turnips and occasionally wheat. 

Yield Per Acre ? Wheat, 15 to 20 bushels with guano ; corn, 15 to 
20 bushels, sometimes 50 ; oats 10 to 25. 

Fruits? Apples, peaches, pears, figs, pomegranates, strawberries, 
blackberries, raspberries, plums, watermelons, cantaloupes, muskmelons, 
with a great variety of others. 

Vegetables ? All kinds known in this climate. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Churches ? An abundance of all. 

Price of Land ? From $10 to $15, some as high as $100 per acre* 

Labor? From $4 to $10 per month and found. 

The Most Successful Cases of Industry? Oystering and fishing. 
From $100 to $300 per acre is the common yield in trucks, especially 
sweet potatoes. We get two crops a year from some land — Irish po- 
tatoes in the Spring and another crop followed by cabbages or turnips. 
Owing to the near neighborhood of large bodies of salt water, we suffer 
less from drouth and frost than elsewhere. This circumstance, with the 
facilities to market and the quick, sandy soil, adapt the country par- 
ticularly to trucks* and fruits. f 

♦Trucks — fruits and vegetables. 

fMr. Robert Ilftrrrison, Garysville, Prince George county, states that the best mar- 
ket apples lor that region are the Horse apple, Gloria Mundi and early, varieties. 
One tree of Gloria Mundi produced apples which sold for $10 last season. Grapes 
brought 10 cents i)er pound. The Concord is the best variety. Very little injury 
from insects was noted. 

Dr. G. W. Briggs, Suffolk, Nansemond county, reports the sale at $2,000 of a 
single crop of 10 acres of Yellow June and Early Harvest apples. He states that 



13 



ISLE OF WIGHT. 

Report of Robert Binford, of Mulberry Hill, Isle of Wigbt county 
and Southampton (postoffice Zuni station, Isle of Wight) : 

Health? Climate mild and salubrious; not subject to those extreme 
variations of temperature which are common to many other localities. 
Health generally good. On the margin of the rivers and creeks ague 
and fever prevails at particular seasons. 

Aspects ? A mountainer would call it level, but it is sufficiently un- 
dulating for good drainage. Soil composed chiefly of clay and sand 
with vegetable mould. Sandy soil considered the best, especially for 
sweet potatoes. Marl is abundant, and is used extensively, particularly 
for clover and peanuts. Peat, muck and mud, with other fertilizers, are 
also used. 

Water? The country is generally well watered by brooks and rivu- 
lets from durable springs of freestone water, fresh and pure. Living 
water can be obtained anywhere in wells from 15 to 30 feet deep. 
There is also a sufficiency of water power in every neighborhood for 
grinding grist and sawing timber. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, oats, peanuts, beans and potatoes (Sweet and 
Irish) ; wheat, only to a limited extent. 

Yield Per Acre ? Depends upon fertilizers used and the mode of 
cultivation. Wheat, from 6 to 15 bushels ; corn, from 5 to 80 ; peas 
and beans, from 6 to 10; potatoes, from 100 to 200; peanuts, from 40 
to 125 ; apples of marketable quality, from 40 to 120 barrels from orch- 
ards that are properly attended to. The smaller figures are obtained by 
those who are treading in the footsteps of the past generation, and who 
believe that money spent for fertilizers^ manures and drainage, will not 
yield as handsome returns as if lent to their more thrifty and enterprising 
neighbors at 6 per cent, interest. 

Fruits and Vegetables ? Apples, melons, peaches, pears, plums, cher- 
ries, with all the smaller fruits, find soil and climate in these two coun- 
ties admirably adapted to their growth and perfection. Grapes thrive 
wherever cultivated. Scuppernong,* in particular, seems to be in its 

$150 have been realized from a half-acre crop of Ilorse apples, and that single trees 
have netted $15 to 630. Sinf!;le pear trees — Bartlett's, Seckel's and Moor's White 
Pound — have frequently paid !?'_*0 to $40. On well-drained soils, carefuly cultivated, 
the ravages of insects are inconsiderable. 
Report of United States Commissioner of Agriculture for 1871, p. 147. 

[R. L. M.] 

*A sloe, indigenous to these and the neighboring counties of North Carolina. The 
vine is like the grape, but it bears its fruit not in branches but single like the plum. 



14 

natural home. The various kinds of turnips, especially the Swedish, 
do well. I have raised 300 bushels on land that would not have brought 
more than 2 barrels of corn to the acre. The sugar-cane or sorghum 
grows nearly as well here as anywhere. I made 14-1 gallons of molasses 
from two-thirds of an acre, and that with a rude mill of my own con- 
struction. Its cultivation has, however, been neglected in consequence 
of its interfering with the peanut harvest. 

Finally, I will say that the native fruits grow in such profusion, and 
such little care is taken of them, that enough goes to decay on the spot 
where it grows to support the entire population, if properly cared for 
and sold. 

3IiUs, Markets, Schools and Churches ? Mills abundant, and outlets 
to, all the markets of the seaboard, both by rail and water, convenient. 
The Norfolk and PetersTjurg and the Seaboard and Roanoke railroads 
pass through these counties. There are several landings on the James, 
the Nansemond and the Black Water rivers ; the Chuckatuck and Pa- 
gan creeks, with their tributaries, Jones and Cypress creeks, &c., are 
navigable almost to their sources for coasting vessels. Churches of va- 
rious denominations are in every neighborhood. As for schools and 
postoffices facilities, I am sorry, we are badly off. In some parts of this 
district the people have to go 10 miles to reach the postotSce. 

Labor? The price of labor ranges from $8 to $15 per month for 
farm hands. By the day, from 37 to 75 cents. Mechanics, such as car- 
penters, bricklayers, &c., from $1.50 to ^o per day. A good, able- 
bodied man can, at ditching and cleaning out, make from $1.50 to §2.50 
per day. Female domestics, from $4 to $5 per month. 

Cases of Successful Industry ? There might be many instances cited 
■where industrious young men, who have little to depend upon besides 
their own industry, have established honorable reputations and secured an 
independence, say of ^5,000 to ^20,000. A neighbor of mine pur- 
chased a farm two years ago, for which he paid $6,000, and has since 
cleared more than the original price by raising peanuts and making ap- 
ple brandy. Last year he made on this farm $1,400 worth of brandy 
and 2,000 bushels of peanuts, worth $2 per bushel. His regular hands 
were four men and two boys, but there was extra labor employed in cul- 
tivating and harvesting the peanuts. I know of another instance ; a young 
married man, who purchased a farm since the war [which ended in 1865] 
at a cost of $2,500, has, within the last two years, cleared more than 
enough to pay for it by raising peanuts as his sole crop. 

Lands ? The price varies from $2 to $30 per acre. I suppose the 
average would be from $6 to $10, with some improvements, but there is 
a large amount that might be had for smaller figures. The cost of clearing 



15 

land depends on the mode; where the trees are girdled and time given 
for their decay, the cost is comparatively small and the fertility much 
improved. Where the timber is taken off and sold, its value would pay 
the labor of clearing. It generally costs about $5 to grub it and clear of 
scrubs. 

Timber ? The county abounds in the best of building timber, pine, 
poplar, cypress, with a variety of oaks growing on the margins of the 
rivers and brooks, used principally for staves, posts and fuel. Besides 
these, there are various kinds of ash, gum, walnut, and hickory, &c. 

JAMES CITY COUNTY. 
Reports of Geo. Hankius, of Burnt Ordinary, and Gen. Ewell, of 
"William and Mary College, of Williamsburg. 

Natural Features ? Generally level, a rise of about 80 feet between 
the York and James rivers, indented near the water with ravines. 

Occupations ? Chiefly agricultural. Those not engaged in cultiva- 
ing the soil are employed in oystering and fishing. The fish are abund- 
ant in these waters. In the James are rock, perch, sturgeon, and va- 
rious other kinds. In the York, oysters, terrapins, sheepshead, hogfish, 
trout, mullet, &c., are in abundance with clams and crabs. Game also 
abounds. Deer in great numbers, and harmless, but edible '■''varments,'^ 
to use Cooper's term, such as hares, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons. 
Beavers, otters, minks, and weasels are less common than formerly. 
Sawing and cutting timber is also followed. 

Health ? Generally good, but liable to ague and fever in July and 
August. 

Water ? Generally good and cool, but sometimes impregnated with 
carbonate and sulphate of lime from marl beds. Wells from 20 to 35 
feet deep. 

Soil ? Siliceous, with a mixture of clay. 

Staple Crops f Wheat, corn, and oats, peanuts and potatoes. 

Yield per acre ? Wheat from 5 to 30 bushels ; corn 15 to 20 bush- 
els ; oats 10 to 25 ; peanuts 30. 

Fruits and Vegetables ? All sorts common to the latitude. 

Blills, 3Iarkets, Schools, and Churches 9 All convenient save in 

some neighborhoods where schools are scarce. 

Price of Land ? From $3 to $130. Average about $20. 

Labor ? Men from $6 to SlO. Women from $4 to $5 per month. 
From 50 cents to $1 by the day. 

The Peninsula is the northern limit of the peanut as a staple crop. 

The United States Commissioner of Agriculture put the peanut crop 
of 1868 at 300,000 bushels. He estimated the crop of 1869 at 1,000,000 
bushels, and valued it at $2.75 per bushel. 



16 

Heretofore it has not been the habit of Virginia to advertise herself, 
and though the peanut has been cultivated by her farmers from time im- 
memorial, yet, according to the United States Commissioner, the value 
of this excellent nut was not known abroad until the Federal soldiers, 
■who invaded Virginia, spread it after their return home from the war in 
1865. It is planted in May, cultivated like the potato, and gathered in 
October; the vine making an excellent winter provender for cattle. 

The Commissioner compares the cultivation of this nut with the cul- 
tivation of cotton and tobacco, and shows that of the former not only 
more profitable, but less laborious and troublesome. He gives the aver- 
age yield of cotton per acre as 225 pounds, worth, at 25 cents, $56.25. 
The average yield of tobacco, 600 pounds per acre, worth, at 10 cents, 
$60. But, of the peanut, the average yield per acre is given at 50 
bushels, worth, at $2.50 per bushel, $125.* 

Mr. John F. Martin, of James City county, has 3,750 apple trees 
■which averaged last season 5 bushels each, worth $2.50 per barrel. His 
best varieties for market are Striped June and Catshead. 

Report United States Commissioner of Agriculture for 1871, p. 148. 

[R. L. M.] 

HENRICO. 

Report of Jno. D. Warren, postoffice, Richmond: 

Aspects? Our county lies upon the navigable waters of the James 
river, and enjoys all the advantages afforded by its navigation, and its 
shad, herring and sturgeon fisheries. 

The city of Richmond divides the county into nearly two equal parts ; 
my remarks apply more especially to that portion of it which lies below 
Richmond, and is in tidewater [ and which contains about 100 square 
miles.] This section is less improved than the upper portion which is 
above tidewater,t but I think it affords greater inducements than the 
other to immigrants of the class that we are supposing, young married 
men each with $500 in gold, well up to their business, industrious, sober, 
and saving. 

In the tidewater portion the land is cheaper, the population less dense, 
the advantages less developed, and consequently a better field is ofi"ered 
to settlers with small means. 

The proximity of the coal and lumber yards of the city obviate, to a 
great extent, the inconvenience that otherwise would result here from the 
scarcity of fuel and timber caused by the war. The new comer de. 

♦Report United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 18G8, p. 224, 
fBoth Henrico and Chesterfield lie partly above tidewater. The Richmond coal 
fields are in the upper portions of these counties. They have been extensively worked 
for many years. There are no mines of any sort in the tidewater region proper. 

[R. L. M.] 



17 

rives great advantages also from the facilities of getting manure and fer- 
tilizers. There are instances in which perfectly waste lands have been re_ 
claimed by the application of 100 bushels of gas-house lim^ to the acre 
at the cost of 5 cents the bushel, followed by the ordinary rotation of 
clover, wheat, and timothy. With judicious cultivation and simple sur- 
face drainage, such lands have, in a very few years, become fine hay 
farms. The lands upon the James river are generally alluvial, made so 
by the deposits from the rich, red lands of the mountain region ; they 
are of a deep chocolate color, and are among the best wheat lands of that 
celebrated Valley. The fertility of the soil is kept up simply by using 
lime, with a rotation of clover, which supplies hay and increases fertility 
at the same time. Lime is afforded abundantly by the marl, which un- 
derlies a great portion of our tidewater country, or is brought in vessels 
from the State of New York. It is also obtained by burning shells 
brought from the oyster beds of the lower tidewater region, and, to a 
limited extent, from the gas works in Richmond. 

I know of no system of improvement so cheap and remunerative as 
this aided only by the application of coarse manures made on the farm. 
I have known lands of no great natural fertility to produce crops of 30 
and 35 bushels per acre. A premium acre produced 80 bushels of corn. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, oats, clover, timothy, hay, with partial 
cultivation of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, and other garden vegetables for 
the Richmond market. Some are turning their attention to the raising 
of fruits. 

.Mills, 3Iarkefs, Schools, and ChircJies ? Henrico county, in imme- 
diate proximity to the city of Richmond, offers to the settler seeking a 
home all the advantages of markets, «hurches, schools and colleges, and 
railway, river, and ocean navigation. It offers convenient intercourse 
with all parts of this and foreign countries. Its social advantages arc 
also very great. There are, in this county, mines of bituminous coal, 
granite quarries, and abundant deposits of marble. [The coal and granite 
are found in the upper part of the county which is above tidewater. M.] 

Price of Land ? This varies from §5 to $30 per acre ; usual terms 
of sale, one-third cash, balance in one and two years. 

The river lands are the best improved, and command higher prices, 
but even of these I have known sales of highly improved farms at $20 ^he 
acre. It is well to add, that upon some of the best farms the system of 
leases has been introduced, which offers to skillful and industrious set- 
tlers, with but small capital, an opportunity to cultivate the best lands 
in the county. 

Health? The climate of Richmond and its environs is conspicuous 
for its pleasantness and health. The only local disease is a mild type of 
2 



18 

intermittent fever and that is chiefly confined to wet, exposed, and unim- 
proved situations, and places in the vicinity of marshes. 

The great number of foreign settlers in this country, chiefly Germans, 
is proof that the new-comer is not subjected to severe or dangerous dis- 
eases in the process of acclimation. 

Water? Lying between rivers in close proximity, our county is 
abundantly supplied in this yespect. 

Price of Labor ? Ordinary hire of freedraen during the year for 
farm work, $10 a month and found. Brick layers and plasterers %2>. 50 
per day, carpenters from $2 to $2.50. In wheat harvest, fine reapers $2, 
and gleaners $1 — rations always furnished. 

Timber ? Chiefly forest pine, oak, hickory, and cypress, all in abund- 
ance where not destroyed by the armies in the late war. Chickahominy 
cypress is valuable for shingles. Charcoal is made of long leaf pine 
[the second growth in this region,] and is becoming the leading business 
with a large class of our people. 

Best Season for Coming ? The new-comer should rent, purchase, 
or lease his farm and begin to prepare for his crops in February or 
March. He should provide himself with cattle, hogs, and poultry ; sow 
oats, plant corn, cultivate a garden, set out an orchard, &c., &c. This 
would much diminish the first year's expense of [supporting his family 
and feeding his stock, and enable him to enter so much the sooner upon 
the profits of his labor. I therefore prefer to begin farming early in the 
Spring — sow oats in February or March, to be reaped in July ; plant corn 
in April and May, to be gathered in November ; cultivate roots and vege- 
tables to be gathered in their season. Prepare for vvheat in August? 
sow in October, to be reaped about the 18th of June following. Grass seed 
may be sown in the Fall, but it is generally preferred to sow with clover 
and timothy in connection with wheat or oats in March. Pigs littered 
as late as May make good pork in December, when well fed, but there 
is some economy in keeping hogs till they are two years old. 

Our market off"ers the finest inducements for raising fowls. Early 
chickens are sold for 50 cents apiece. Eggs at same per dozen at their 
highest market. A fair average of 25 cents apiece for chickens, and 
per dozen for eggs can be got. Butter averages per pound rather more 
than these figures. Veals bring from $8 to $14. There is nothing that 
a farmer cannot sell at fair prices, from worn plow points, rags and corn 
shucks, to wicker basketsful of strawberries and delicious grapes. 

A young married man, with $500 in gold, wishes to settle in Henrico 
upon a farm of 40 acres, what, supposing him to be up to his business, 
sober, saving, and industrious, would be his probable expenses and re- 
ceipts ? 



19 

ESTIMATES FIRST YEAR. 

40 acres land at $15. 

First year's payment $200 

Building, farming implements, household and kitchen 

furniture 200 

Horse, cow and calf, sow and pigs, poultry, &c 161 

Subsistence for family and stock 195 

Seed 72 

Manure and extra labor 300 

$1,128 
Receipts after deducting for family use : 

250 bushels corn [10 acres] at 80 cents $200 

400 " turnips 25 " 100 

150 cwt. oats $1.00 " 150 

200 bushels potatoes 1.00 200 

5,000 cabbages [1 acre] 3 cents 15 

750 pounds pork at 10 cents 75 

Poultry and garden products 112 

In currency* $987 

SECOND YEAR. 

Second p'ayment for land $200 

Household and farming expenses 350 

$550 

Receipts (deducting for home consumption). 

250 bushels wheat [10 acres] $500 

All other articles 1,100 

$1,600 

THIRD year's expenses. 

Last payment on land $200 

Household and farming expenses including $100 for 

implements 600 

$800 
Sales of all sorts $1,800 

GLOUCESTER. 

Reports of John D. Seawell, [postoffice, Gloucester Court-house] Col. 
Cutshaw, V. M. I., and of Robert Seldon, of Robens Neck [postoffice, 
Hickory Fork] Gloucester. 

Soil ? The soil is generally a gray loam mixed with sand, with a 
light yellow clay subsoil. Miocene marl is found throughout the county, 

* When this estimate was made, it was at the rate of $1.40 for the gold dollar. 



20 

and not far below the surface. It has been extensively and successfully 
used as a fertilizer. 

Timber ? Once excellent and abundant, has been very much thinned 
out, especially near the water courses, where it has been cut and carried 
away both for shiptimber and firewood. 

Health ? Good. Ague and fever the most prevalent disease. 

Water ? Abundant. Wells 10 to 30 feet deep ; in many neighbor- 
hoods water impregnated with lime. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, oats, peas and hay. 

Yield per acre ? Wheat average 6 bushels ; corn 20 ; oats 10 ; hay ^ 
to 2 tons. 

Fruit ? Apples, pears, peaches, figs, plums, strawberries, raspberries, 
gooseberries, currants, grapes and scuppernongs. 

Vegetables ? Cabbage, carrots, parsnips, brocoli, kale, celery, cauli- 
flower, beets, salsify, peas, beans, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet and Irish 
potatoes, cucumbers, cymlings, gherkins, pumpkins, and squashes. 

Mills, Markets, Schools, and Churches? Steam and water mills- 
Markets — Baltimore, Norfolk, and Richmond. Sunday schools and 
churches of all sorts. 

Price of Land? Only one piece has been sold since the war, at 
about $20 per acre. [Several plantations, highly improved, have recently 
been sold at from $20 to $40. M.] 

Labor ? $10 for men, $4 for women per month, but difficult to ob- 
tain for farming purposes owing to the ease with which the laboring class 
can gain their livelihood by "oystering," fishing, &c. 

KING AND QUEEN. 

William Boulware, Traveller's Rest, report. 

Aspects ? About 60 miles long by 8 wide. Climate mild. There 
is probably not a month in the year that a husbandman is kept from out- 
door work. 

Soil? Silicious and argillaceous with intermediate varieties. It is a 
part of the Chesapeake region — the Mediterranean of the United States. 
Adapted to all the vegetables and fruits of mild climates. The seasons 
are three weeks in advance of those of New York. It is more agreeable 
than the south of Europe,* much drier in Winter and cooler in Summer. 
My impression is, it is more healthy. 

We have beneath our soil, in many parts of the county, a treasure 
■which Providence has been pleased to have deposited in anticipation of 
our peculiar wants — marl in great abundance, and often in great rich- 
ness, containing 60 or 70 per centum of lime. The cultivator has it in 

* Where he resided for several years as American minister. 



21 

his power to enrich his lands to any degree by means of this fertilizer. 
With a scattering of marl, and a crop of clover, he often finds his farm 
producing double the former crops. There is an estate near me owned 
by one of the wealthiest men in the county, who is indebted exclusively 
for his wealth to the purchase of poor lands and their improvement by 
marl. 

Sealth ? We have no diseases peculiar to this climate ; those who are 
imprudent, are sometimes attacked by chills and fever in Autumn, but 
they are usually slight and can be easily cured by quinine. These chills 
are found more or less in all climates where heat, moisture, and vegetable 
matter to decompose, are brought together. They produce only a slight 
temporary inconvenience. 

Staple Crops ? Corn and wheat. We also make tobacco, cotton, 
rye, barley, oats, and potatoes [sweet and Irish]. As to fruits and vege" 
tables, they are in great variety and abundance, so much so that but lit- 
tle market value is attached to them. Strawberries and blackberries grow 
spontaneously in the fields. Persimmons, which make very excellent beer, 
may be had for the gathering. No proprietor, within my knowledge, has 
ever made any charge for them. We have forests of chestnuts, many wal- 
nuts, a variety of nut producing hickories, and everyspeciesof timber to be 
found within these latitudes in America. 

Industries ? There is a considerable trade in lumber, and a great 
gain to be derived from it. A very profitable trade has also sprung up 
within the last two years in sumac leaves. Fish, also, principally shad 
and herring, constitute a large item in the productions and exports of 
the county. But the fortunes in this section have, for the most part, 
been made from the soil. Heretofore a young man of industry and econ- 
omy, with a few hundred dollars to begin with, was sure of supporting 
his family and making a comfortable fortune. In truth, I know of no 
county in which the population live more easily and enjoy a higher stand- 
ard of comfort than here, in the Tidewater section of Virginia. Our for- 
ests furnish game, our rivers the finest of fish, and our lands nearly 
everything else necessary for comfortable subsistence. 

The wild grapes of our forest produce a wine but little inferior to the 
be?c that are found in Europe. It is from this stock of vine that the Nor- 
t(>n Seedling has sprung, which has been so extensively diffused, and so 
tighly thought of in all parts of the country. In the lower parts of this 
county, on the York river, we catch large quantities of the best oysters* 
This business is so profitable, that agriculture on the slopes of that river 
is often neglected. It is difficult to obtain field laborers when a good 
oysterman can make $2 or $3 dollars a day with his tongs. 

Price of Land ? You remark, "we have no public lands to offer the 



22 

new-comer ; " that is true, but what we have is better and cheaper. We 
have lands already arable, houses already built, orchards in full bear- 
ing, and an old settled and secure society. Price of land varies from $5 
to $30 ; the average would be between $10 and $15 the acre. As to so- 
ciety, there is none better in the country ; the people are educated, re- 
fined, and religious. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Qhurches ? Churches convenient. 
Schools, public buildings, and all the conveniences appertaining to an old 
and well organized society. 

A young married man, with $500 in gold, desires to establish him- 
self in King and Queen upon a farm of 40 acres. What, supposing 
him to be up to his business, would be his probable expenses and receipts 9 

FIRST YEAR. 

40 acres at $15 

First payment $200 

Building, horse, cow, and calf, &c 185 

Seed, provender, and provision 155 

Total expenses $540 

Sales (deducting for family use) : 

200 bushels corn at 80 cents $160 

170 " wheat at $2 340 

Garden, dairy and poultry 50 

Total receipts $550 

SECOND YEAR. 

Second payment for land $200 

Groceries, &c 39 

Total expenses $239 

Sales (deducting for use) ; 

Corn and wheat $500 

Proceeds of garden, &c 70 

Total receipts $570 

THIRD YEAR. 

Last payment on land $200 

Expenses of all sorts 185 

Total expenses $385 

Sales (deducting as before) : 

250 bushels wheat $500 

200 " corn 160 

Orchard, garden, &c 70 

Total receipts $730 



23 



ESSEX COUNTY. 

Report of Edmund F. Noel, Esq., (postoffice, Tappahannock). 

Industries? Chiefly grain growing. 

Physical Aspects ? As in Tidewater country generally, except that 
the tops of the hills are sometimes covered with boulders of sandstone, 
layers of which crop out at their sides several inches in thickness. 

Health ? Generally good, except in the Fall, when chills and fevers 
of various kinds prevail. 

Epidemics ? Influenza, measles, whooping cough, &c., are the most 
prevalent. 

Water ? Good freestone, from wells and springs. It is sometimes 
impregnated with iron. Wells from 25 to 35 feet. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, oats, and rye. 

Yield ? Wheat from 5 to 10 bushels ; corn from 10 to 20 ; oats from 
10 to 12 per acre. 

Fruits ? Apples, peaches, and pears, with the smaller fruits. 

Vegetables ? Peas, cabbage, beets, potatoes, and the like. 

Mills, Markets, Schools, and Churches? Plenty of all. 

Price of Land? From $5 to $10 the acre. 

Labor ? 50 cents the day — from $8 to $10 the month and found. 
About 1 hour for breakfast, and from 1| to 2 hours for dinner. Those 
that pay more allow less time for meals. 

KING GEORGE. 

•Reports of Col. Edward T. Tayloe, of Powhatan Hill [postoffice, King 
George Court-house] ; Jno. D. Rogers, Esq., of Farley Vale [postoffice, 
Fredericksburg], and of Col. Cutshaw, Y. M. I., Lexington Virginia. 

Col. Tayloe keeps a meteorological register, and, according to the mean 
of his observations for twenty-one years, the average monthly rain fall is : 
For January, 1.7 inches; for February, 1.5; March, 2.1; April, 3.1; 
May, 3.6 ; June, 3.2 ; July, 3.8 ; August, 4.3 ; September, 3.2 ; October, 
6. 

This, allowing for the difference of latitude and the distance from the 
bay and seashores, will afford a very good idea as to the rainfall of the 
Tidewater belt generally. 

Physical Aspects ? This county forms a part of the Peninsula, which 
is generally called "The Northern Neck." It fronts both on the Poto- 
mac and Rappahannock, and its western boundary comes within 8 miles 
of Fredericksburg. It, with the counties of Essex, Gloucester, James 
City, and a portion of New Kent, forms a belt of country presenting sim- 
ilar topographical features and agricultural resources. 



24 

Col. Tayloe is of opinion that ,?250 in gold -will buy 50 acres of land, 
•which, he says, is as much as a man and his wife can well cultivate. It will 
furnish a garden for their vegetables, and the rest may be put in grain. 
Of less fertile but yet improvable land this sum would buy 75 or^80 acres- 
Forty acres of clear, open land would produce 1,000 bushels of corn in 
favorable seasons, and, under judicious management, much more. 

A good farmer would vary his products, and have others more valuable 
than corn. Facilities to market are abundant, and he can send there 
"whatever he has to sell. A horse and plow, or one yoke of good oxen, a 
cow and a calf, a sow and pigs, a cart, and a few simple implements, 'will 
Suffice for a beginning; $250 in gold will buy them. 

Staple Productions ? Corn, wheat, tobacco, rye, oats, potatoes, and 
leguminous plants succeed well, with a plentiful supply of vegetables. Ap- 
ples, pears, peaches, with berries, are abundant. 

Yield ? Corn from 20 to 60 bushels per acre ; wheat from 10 to 40. 
A fine country for watermelons. Col. Cutshaw thinks the yield should 
be stated at for corn 15 to 20 bushels, and for wheat 10 to 15. 

Wood and Timber ? Near the rivers, Potomac and Rappahannock, 
there is an abundance of wood. A great deal of pine wood is sent from 
here to market in Alexandria, Baltimore and Washington. Freight $2 
a cord, cutting and hauling $1. Price in market from ^4 to t?6, and 
sometimes $10. There are, in King George and the neighboring counties* 
marshes or swamps called "pocosins," that are heavily timbered with ash, 
maple, sweet gum, &c., and from them vast quantities of shiptimber have 
been cut and sent to the North. On the uplands and ridges are forests 
of pine and oak. 

Lands? Vary from $5 to 60 an acre, according to situation and im- 
provements. 

Labor? From 50 cents a day to $12 a month — rather hard to get. 

Markets ? "I am on the Rappahannock river, and deliver 1,000 bush- 
els a day for'any port." — Rogers. "Our rivers are rarely closed by ice 
more than a month, and some winters pass without hindrance to naviga- 
tion. The steamboats suspend their trips usually in January and Feb- 
ruary for repairs, and commence again in March. The landings are nu- 
merous and convenient." 

Stock ? Succeeds finely. Except in very cold weather, and when the 
ground is covered with snow, very little provender is required for them 
and the corn ciops furnish this abundantly by its blades, without the ex- 
pense of providing hay. Sheep do well, and the finer breeds bear good 
fleeces. 

Manures? "Marl of both the eocene and meocene formations are 
^ound in abundance in the river banks and blufl*s, and has been success- 



25 

fully used for many years as a fertilizer. A thin stratum of iron ore 
(brown hematite), seldom more than a few inches in thickness, but ex- 
tending over a large area in Eastern Virginia, is generally found in the 
clay, overlying the marl." 

Supposing a young married man with $500 gold, sober, saving and 
industrious, and well up to his business, desires to establish himself in 
King George upon a farm of 40 acres, give an estimate of expenses 
and receipts : 

40 acres at $5 — 

First payment $ 66 66 

Buildiugs, horse, cow and calf, sow and pigs, poultry, fruit trees, &c... 143 00 

Farming implements, feed, &c., subsistence, including cost, &c 133 75 

Total expenses $343 41 

Sales. 

200 bushels corn* [10 acres] at 75 cents $150 00 

Second Year. 

Second payment on land, interest-8 per cent ...$ 72 00 

Guano, Groceries, &c 163 75 

$235 75 
Sales. 
50 bushels wheat at $2, and 250 bushels of corn at 75c. [10 acres]. ..$287 00 

700 pounds tobacco at 25 cents 175 00 

Poultry, garden products, &c 85 00 

$497 00 
Third Year. 

Third payment on land, 8 per cent, interest $ 77 36 

Guano, groceries, &c.... 140 00 

Expenses $217 36 

Sales. 

250 bushels corn at 75 cents (10 acres) $187 50 

200 bushels wheat at $2 400 00 

Tobacco 175 00 

300 pounds bacon at 10 cents 30 00 

Garden, poultry, &c 40 00 

$832 50 
Sales third year over SSTo.f 

*After deducting 10 acres for house, garden and lots, the remaining 30 acres are 
supposed to be divided into fields of 10 acres each. If the settler choose to cultivate 
more land, as he may, he can rent land near by for one-third the product. This will 
increase his receipts without additional outlay. 

t " It is to be observed that a settler cannot raise sheep on 40 acres of land, there 
being no commons with us; nor can he make wheat the first year, nor oats in any 
year without taking from the wheat land. I have omitted the cost of seed wheat, 
which you will correct. Proceeds from garden and poultry can hardly be counted 
the first year. 

"The labor of the man and wife makes the costs of cultivation. Additional la- 
bor, if required, may be returned in kiud between neighbors." — Tayloe. 



26 

A few notes from Colonel Tayloe's meteorological register will, per- 
haps, give the stranger as good an idea of the climate in this belt as a 
new comer can generally derive after several years' residence. 

Powhatan Hill, latitude 38° 13' ; height above sea level, 100 feet. 
Monthly maximum and minimum temperature [Fahrenheit] at 7 A. M. 
for the 12 months beginning May, 1860: 

MONTH. MAXIMUM. MININIMUM. 

May 76 46 

June 80 55 

July 83 63 

August 83 60 

September 76° 53° 

October 72° 33° 

November 54 28 ^ 

December. 18 23 

January, 1870 51° 16° 

February," 55° 14° 

March, " 52° 27° 

April, ■" 68° 35° 

May 1st, 1869, coral honeysuckle, birdcherry flowering : almond 
in bloom. 3d, calicanthus in bloom. Corn planting began April 20th, 
and goes on yet. 3d, roses, horse chestnuts and snow balls begin to 
bloom. 10th, planted cucumbers and melons. 12th, planted black- 
eye peas. 17th, blackberry and furze tree in bloom. 18th, locust 
in bloom ; many varieties of rose in bloom. Strawberries plentiful ; 
whortleberries in bloom. 27th, sheep sheared. 

June 3d, 1869, kalmia in bloom. 5th, tomatoe and potatoes in 
bloom. 12th, new potatoes ; planted navy beans. 14th, corn has 
now advanced to over 90 cents per bushel of 56 pounds ; smoke tree 
and pride of China in bloom. 18th, cutting rye ; elder in bloom, 
catalpa also ; strawberries continue ; currants gathered ; gooseberries 
ripening. 21st, harvest commenced. 26th, mimosa in bloom. 

July 1st, 1869, harvest finished; crop of wheat good — best since 
war. 10th, threshing in progress with satisfactory yield ; cutting 
oats ; althea in bloom ; crepe myrtle in bloom. 28th, red wheat, 
Baltimore, $1.45@i5l.65 ; white corn, $1.08@Sl.l2 per bushel. 

August 7th, 1869, annular eclipse of sun ; mercury fell two degrees. 
16th, a distressing drought prevails ; melons have been abundant. 27th, 
began to pull fodder. 30th, sowed turnips. 

September 4th, 1869, drought continues ; corn crop estimated to be 
two-thirds of a fair crop ; that of the county, less than half an average. 
6th, wheat in Baltimore, ^1.25 to $1,60 the bushel ; corn $1.05 to 
$116, 6th, cantaloupes abundant to this time; a few good peaches, 
pears and apples, but these fruits are not plentiful this year. 17th, 
fine rain ; droughts have not been frequent. The years 1833 and 1837 



27 

were very dry. In 1838 there was not rain enough to set out plants 
from July 12th to September 7th. The summer of 1866 was very dry. 
28th, a little frost observed on straw ; began to sow wheat. 29th, 
another light frost ; morning fires very comfortable. 30th, wild geese 
appeared. 

October 4th, 1869, 5,055 inches of rain fell on the 3d to about mid- 
night, 7th, slight frost. 9th, corn, Baltimore, $1 per bushel. 10th, 
heavy frost. 18th, much frost. 21st, finished sowing wheat. 25th, 
a killing frost. 26-7th, a skim of ice. 28th, digging potatoes ; 
yield very light. 

November 1st, 1869, very heavy frost and skim of ice ; aurora 
borealis last night. 2d, 3d and 4th, heavy frosts at night; days mild. 
6th, a week of fine Indian summer weather. 8th, yesterday cold; to- 
day colder; snow squalls ; 28° at 7 A. M. ; ice one and a fourth inch. 
9th, 31° 7 A. M. ; ice half an inch. 13th, heavy frosts yesterday and 
to-day; cold Indian summer this week; 22d, heavy frost; ice. 25th, 
frost ; ice over one-fourth of an inch. 

December 1st, 1869, bright mid-day; at 7 A. M. 68°. 4th, ice an 
inch thick. 6th, corn all put in granary; crop, two-thirds .of an aver- 
age per acre. 7th, ice three-fourths of an inch, 19th, ice one-fourth of 
an inch. 20th, ice one-fourth an inch. 30th, heavy frost yesterday ; 
much heavier this morning ; very mild for the season ; no freezing for 
several days. 31st, frost ; mild and pleasant day. 

January 6th, 1870, plowing. 9th, 16°, coldest day so far. 11th, 
gathering ice. 13th, plowing. 17th, lightning. 22d, plowing every 
day this week. 25th, papyrus japonica, purple magnolia and elm 
coming into leaf. 29th, plowing all this week. 

February 5th, plowing all this week ; filberts and elms in flower. 
12th, plowing all this week ; periwinkle blooming. 18th, thunder. 
21st, 14°, the coldest day in the yeat 23d, first snow of the winter 
to cover the ground. 24th, snow all nielted ofi" in open places. 

March 5th, plowing all this week. 9th, thermometer 25°. 24th, ice. 

April 6th, early peach, apricot, P. japonica in flower, 11th, 
plums in bloom. 13th, began to plant corn. 14th, cherries, spirea, 
wild plum in bloom. 15th, pears in bloom ; corn selling for 95 cents 
on the river. 21st, early apples in bloom. 23d, first whip-poor- 
will ; red bud and white lilac in bloom. 26th, slight frost. 30th, 
apples, quinces, purple lilac, yellow jessamine, azahas [wild honey- 
suckles] in bloom. 

These observations and remarks from the admirable meteorological 
journal of Colonel Tayloe, will, after allowing for diiference of some lo- 
cation, give the immigrant a very good idea [as to the climate in other 
portions of this belt. In early spring the seasons in New Kent are 



;28 

about a week, and in Southampton, about two weeks in advance of those 
in King George ; while in the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne 
they are about a month. Gloucester, Matthews and Northampton are in 
the same latitude, but on account of the difference as to their situation 
in regard to the sea, the early fruits and plants of Northampton are 
in leaf and flower, at least a week, before they are in the other two 
counties. 

The counties of Stafford, Prince William and Alexandria all front on 
the Potomac where the tides ebb and flow. They lie mostly within the 
Piedmont belt, yet, for convenience, they are included with the Tide- 
water region. Here the face of the country changes its features : in- 
stead of being flat and sandy, most of it is rolling. Sandstones, 
gneiss, marble (breccia), shales and quartz are all outcropping here and 
there; gold, with copper, iron and other minerals, has also been profita- 
bly mined in several of these counties. 

They are convenient by water to all the markets of the seaboard, and 
have communication by rail, river and canal with the cities of Alexan- 
dria and Washington, Georgetown and Baltimore. 

PRINCE WILLIAM. 

Reports of Messrs. Crawford Gushing and G. H. Hunton. These gen- 
tlemen live not far from the celebrated battle fields of Bull Run and 
Manassas, and though not in the same neighborhood, they have the same 
postofnce, viz: Gainsville, Prince William county. 

Industries ? The people in this vicinity are engaged in farming and 
grazing cattle, horses and sheep. Within an area of five miles square, 
we have, says ]Mr. Hunton, "Four mills, three blacksmith's shops, one 
wheelwright, three carpenters, two coopers, five merchants , two shoe- 
makers and two physicians." 

Aspects ? The surface of the country is rolling, with good streams of 
lasting water ; large portions are covered with oak and pine timber. 
The oak is good; pine of the "old field" sort. 

Health ? Most excellent. 

Epidemics ? There has not been one in twelve years — the time I have 
been living in the neighborhood. Heard of none before. — [Hunton] 

Water ? Springs of freestone. W^ells from 25 to 50 feet deep ; some 
Boft, some brackish. 

Staple Crops ? Wheat, corn, oats, hay, buckwheat and some tobacco 
for home consumption. 

Yield per acre ? Wheat from 5 to 20 bushels, average, say 10 ; corn 
on unimproved land, 15 bushels ; ordinarily good, 30 ; highly improved, 
60 to .75 ; oats, 10 to -10 ; hay, one-half to two tons. 



I 



i9 

Fruit% ? Apples, peaches, pears, apricots, cherries, damsons, grapes, 
strawberrieafand other small fruits. 

Vegetables ? Irish potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, peas, beans, turnips 
onions, celery, carrots, parsnips, in short, all vegetables grown in the 
temperate zone will do well here with care. 

Natural Groivth of Timber P Every variety of oak, walnut, hickory, 
poplar, gum, sycamore, elm, chestnut, pine, and various kinds of the 
dwarf trees, as dogwood, spicewood, redwood, ironwood, &c. 

Natural Groivth of Berries and Briers ? Whortleberries, blackberries 
wild gooseberries, wild cherries, raspberries, &c. ; bramble, sweetbrier, 
the latter a dwarf species of bramble, tall and running briers, which 
produce the black and dewberry. 

Natural Growth of Weeds and Roots P Hemlock, ragweed, ironweed 
(frequently used for brooms), pursely careless, snake root, bloodroot, 
Indian onion, rattlewood, wild carrot and wild potato. 

Natural Growth of Flowers ? Wild violet, wild pink, wild scarlet 
geranium, wild honeysuckle, wild flowering pea, sweetbrier, several va- 
rieties of roses, touch-me-nots, senna and many others. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Churches ? Well supplied with all except 
• schools. Sparse population, and the misfortunes of the late war causing 
the lack of schools. 

Land? Price ranges from $6 to $25, according to quality and im- 
provements. Land about Manassas selling from $60 to $80 the acre, 
mostly on speculation. 

Labor? 50 to 75 cents a day; $10 to $12 a month. Hard to get 
and hard to control. 

FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

The eastern portion of this county is in the immediate vicinity of the 
cities of Washington, Georgetown and Alexandria, and the attention of 
the inhabitants is directed chiefly to fruit raising, market gardening and 
dairy farming. 

Reports of Mr. Thos. R. Love, Fairfax Courthouse ; B. Caswood & 
Son, postofBce, Herndon, Fairfax county; Chalkley Gillingham, Mount 
Vernon Nursery, and Thos. I. Peacock, postotfice. Prospect Hill, Fair- 
fax county. 

Industries ? In the neighborhood of Herndon, the chief industries are 
dairy farming and cheese making, and in the county generally, farming, 
manufacturing, market gardening, fruit raising, &c., &c. 

Health? Excellent. 

Epidemics ? Bilious fever of a mild type, with ague and fever, on the 
Potomac river, but no epidemics. 



80 

Water ? Soft and pure, from springs, and generally so from wells 
from 15 to 30 feet deep. Sometimes impregnated with irflpi. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, oats, grass, and small fruits, potatoes, &c. 

Yield 'per acre ? Wheat from 10 te 20 bushels ; corn from 35 to 50 
bushels ; oats from 20 to 50 bushels ; hay one-half to two tons. " Col. 
Cutshaw, my assistant, reports 10 bushels of wheat, 15 bushels corn, 15 
bushels oats, 14 bushels rye, as the average yield in this county." 

Fruits ? Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, quinces, plums, and small 
fruits. 

Vegetables ? All kinds. This county is second only to the State ot 
California in the production of all kinds of vegetables, melons and sweet 
potatoes only excepted. 

Natural Growth of Cirassesf Herds grass or "red top," blue grass, 
apd white clover. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Qhurches ? Badly off for mills — destroyed 
during the war. Good markets. Poor schools, and but few churches. 
The latter destroyed during the war " to promote civilization." 

Price of Land? From $5 to $100 the acre. ^ 

Labor ? Farm hands from $10 to $15 per month. Women $5, and 
inferior at that. Mechanics from $2 to $3 a day. 

The most Successful Case of Industry/ ? Market gardening is the most 
profitable business in connection with farming in this county. Those 
that do not live further than 10 miles from Washington, go to market 
from three to six times a week, carrying fruit and vegetables, butter, 
poultry, pigs, &c.; in short, everything that can be raised upon a farm 
of small size, all of which finds a ready sale in Washington city, at high 
prices. Consequently all of these people are making money, many of 
them are becoming rich (T. R. Love). Many of my neighbors by hard 
work have acquired competency (Thos. J. Peacock). Grazing is very 
profitable indeed. One farmer near me purchased ten head of stock cat- 
tle last Fall and sold them this Spring, early in June, at a clear profit 
of $300. No grain whatever was fed to them. This business is increas- 
ing (T. R. Love).* 

*The United States Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report for 1871, p. 146 says: 
" A prominent fruit growing enterprise in Virginia is that of Mr. Chalkley Gillingham, 
Accotink, Fairfax county, embracing 100 acres of peaches, 100 acres of apples, and 
10 acres of pears. The planting of these trees dates from 1849, continued by annual 
additions up to the present time. Of apples. Summer and Autumn varieties form 
each one-fourth of the planting, and Winter varieties one-half. The best early mar- 
ket apples are the Edwards Early, Early Hagloe, Astrachan, Early Ripe, &c. Of 
Fall apples, the Fall Pippin, Gravenstein, Maiden's Blush. Of Winter apples, the 
Abram, Albemarle, Bowling's Sweet, Ridge Pippin, &c. From 600 peach trees in 
bearing, 300 bushels of fruit were sold last season at an average price of $1 per bushel. 
The pear trees are mostly young. Those iu bearing last year fruited finely, the fruit 
bringing $4 per bushel. R. L. M.] 



31 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

It would be difficult for an immigrant to find a more interesting and in- 
structive account of a country in which he is about to make his new 
home, than that which is contained in these reports from the farmers, 
and from which the foregoing statements have been chiefly derived. 

It should be borne in mind that the gentlemen who make these reports 
are for the most part strangers to me, and strangers to each other. 
Each has conferred only with his neighbors, and answered in his own 
way certain interrogatories that were propounded to him for the benefit 
of the immigrants. I have given the purport of the answers in the fore- 
going pages, with the address of those who submitted them, and am au- 
thorized to refer the stranger to those gentlemen for further and detailed 
information concerning their neighborhood and counties. It will be ob- 
served that nothing is said about many of the counties in this belt ; that 
is simply because no reports have been received from them, nor is the 
omission of vital importance, considering the abundance of the informa- 
tion given by those who were kind enough to submit reports. It should 
be remembered that the counties are municipal not physical divisions of 
the State, and that their climate and productions difi"er according to geo- 
graphical laws, and not according to municipal laws. 

By considering these reports attentively, the immigrant will have no 
difficulty in forming a pretty correct idea of the climate, health, water, 
productions, and industries, of any part of this belt, concerning which 
we have no special report. The proper way of treating it, perhaps, 
would not have been by counties, but according to natural divisions, 
four of which are peninsulas, each one having its own peculiar features, 
climate and productions. 

Beginning with the South, we come to a part of the region known as 
the " Southside," because it is south of the James river. It will be ob- 
served that the reports from the Tidewater counties of the " Southside " 
make no allusion to grass as a staple crop, nor to the dairy as a branch 
of industry. But if reports had come from any one of the counties ad- 
joining North Carolina, mention would have been made of cotton as a 
staple crop. Cotton will mature in the open air any where within this 
and the Piedmont belt. Stimulated by the high prices since the war, it 
has been cultivated as a commercial staple as high up as Maryland and 
Delaware. This will be diff'erent in the Southside counties of the Pied- 
mont belt; they are further from the sea, higher above its level, and 
though they may lie between the same parallels of latitude that bound 
the Tidewater counties, yet, since they are further from the sea, and 
higher above its level, it will be found when we come to discuss the re- 
ports from them, that their climate and productions differ materially from 
those we are now considering. 



32 

The difference of production in these several Tidewater divisions, is 
owino- chiefly to latitude, but partly also to distance from the ocean. The 
mean elevation of the Tidewater belt above the sea level will average be- 
tween 50 and 100 feet. In the " Southside " division, peanuts and sweet 
potatoes, figs, cotton, scuppernongs, arid trucking are counted among the 
staple productions and principal branches of industry. 

The "Eastern Shore" forms the second natural division. The 
"Eastern Shore " is the peninsula in which the counties of Northampton 
and Accoraac lie. Here, nothing is said of cotton ; but among the pro- 
ductions and industries, Dr. Thom mentions pomegranates, trucks and 
seafaring, and alludes to wheat as only an occasional crop. 

West of the Chesapeake, opposite the "Eastern Shore," and between 
the York and James rivers, is the third natural division. It is designated 
in Virginia as " The Peninsula." It embraces the counties of New Kent, 
of Charles City and James City, and of York, Warwick and Elizabeth 
City. The climates and productions in these two peninsulas are similar, 
except that we find from our reports, that while wheat was only an occa- 
sional crop in Northampton, it is a regular one in James City. And as 
we go West, get higher above the sea level, and farther from the influence 
of the Gulf Stream and the open waters of the ocean, we shall have even 
a more marked diff"erence than this in climate, character of diseases, pro- 
ductions and industries. 

The third peninsula or fourth natural division lies between the York 
and Rappahannock rivers. We have reports from the counties of Essex, 
King and Queen, and Gloucester in this division. These reports make 
no mention of peanuts and pomegranates. But mention is first inade by 
the farmers here of sumac as a source of wealth. They are silent as to 
peanuts and the scuppernongs, because the geographical limits within 
which they may be profitably cultivated have been passed. 

The " Northern Neck " forms the fifth natural division. It is the 
peninsula which lies between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, and 
is divided into the counties of King George, Westmoreland, Richmond, 
Northumberland and Lancaster. Here there is a marked change in 
productions, and stock raising and wool growing are mentioned for the 
first time as some of the important industries. 

North of this peninsula, and fronting on the Potomac river, is the 
sixth natural division. Here we first hear of buckwheat. Now, by ex- 
amining the reports of the farmers in Prince William and Fairfax, and 
comparing their statements with the statements from the " Southside," 
or first division, we see how vast is the difference in productions, climate 
and diseases, between these two extreme divisions. The intelligent 
stranger, bearing in mind this diS"erence, will be able to draw pretty 



33 

correct conclusions as to the staple productions and chief industries of 
the interjacent counties, though he may have no special report from them. 
In like manner the information contained in these reports about the 
Tidewater belt will greatly assist him in forming a correct estimate as to 
the climates, productions and health, in various parts of the Piedmont 
belt. Tiie difference between the two regions in this respect Avill be 
owing entirely to difference in distance from the sea, and difference 
in height above it. 

Thus with these reports and the map before him, the emigrant, who 
fancies to make Virginia his home, will have no difficulty in fixing his 
residence in that part of the State which is best adapted to the special 
productions, and best suited to the peculiar industries, in which he takes 
most delight. 

A census is taken of the whole country every ten years, in which an 
account is rendered not only of the population and its occupations, but 
of almost everything else that touches the common weal ; such as the 
price of lands, their production, the area of improved and unimproved 
lands, value of live stock and farming implements, health, disease, mor- 
tality, &c. 

The last census was taken in 1870. According to it the rural white 
population in the Tidewater belt in Virginia was as nearly as can be as- 
certained 177,739 ; this is exclusive of blacks, and also of the white in- 
habitants of the cities and towns. Neither these or the blacks are sup- 
posed to be owners of real estate. It is a rare thing for a negro ever to 
own a farm. With these exceptions, and supposing the 177,739 to rep- 
resent the land owners and their families, and each family to consist of 
five persons, we have 170 acres as the average size of farms, and 34 acres 
as the ratable quantity to each person. A little more than half of this 
170 acres consists of unimproved lands ; besides this, there is an area of 
about 1,800,000 acres, consisting of water and lands that do not belont^ 
to the farms. 

These census statistics, which are very voluminous, have tables for 
every county in every State in the Union, in which are given, among 
other things, the "number of improved acres in farms," and the "num- 
ber of unimproved acres in farms," with the cash value of their live stock 
and farming implements of all sorts. In order to ascertain the number 
of land holders in any county, as per subjoined tables, the wliite popula- 
tion of the cities is taken from the ivhite population of the counties, and 
the remainder are considered to be land holders, for example : the white 
population of the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, in the county of Nor 
folk, is deducted from 21,380, the total white population of the county, 
3 



34 

leaving 7,044 as the owners of 104,162 acres, whicli are embraced in the 
farms of the county. 

By this mode of treating the subject, the following tables have been 
constructed. They show the white and black population of the Tidewater 
belt for the year 1870; also the white population of the cities and towns, 
which last has been deducted from the first in order to arrive at the av- 
eraae quantity of land for each white man, woman and child of the rural 
population. 
'Population and Acreage of Counties Composing the Tidetvater Belt — 

Shoiving also the Average Number of Acres to each White Person 

of the Rural Population in 1870, and the Average Value of the 

Lands Per Acre. 

FIRST DIVISION OR SOUTHSIDE. 



Counties. 


Population. 


Acreage. 






White. 


Black. 


Whites 
in 

Towns. 


Impr'ed. 


Unimp'd 


Acres per 
rural white 
inh'bit'nts. 




Isle of Wight 


4,874 
6,059 
24,380 
2,774 
4,309 
5,468 
2,393 
2,902 


3,446 367 
5,517 542 


56,317 
56,238 
46,055 
55,551 
46,940 
123,059 
34.009 
68 064 


106.217 

106,400 
58,107 
52,005 
5", 809 

166.257 
67,111 

119,400 


37 
30 
14 
40 
23 
53 
43 
63 




Norfolk 


22,382 
5,046 
3,902 
6,796 
3,192 
4,923 


17,336 










Southampton 

Surry 




















Total 


53,259 


55,203 


18,245 


486,693 


729,372 


38 


$9 00 







SECOND DIVISION OR EASTERN SHORE. 



Accomac 

Northampton 

Total 



12,567 
3,198 


7,842 

4,848 




78,556 

68,728 

137,284 


84,070 
37,985 

122,055 






15,765 


12,690 





13 
33 



23 



$15 00 



THIRD DIVISION OR PENINSULA. 



Charles City. .. 

Jaoies City 

Elizabeth City, 

Henrico 

New Kent 

Warwick 

York 

Total 



1,822 
1,985 
2,832 
35,148 
2,005 
620 
2,507 

46,910 



3,153 
2,440 
5,471 
31,031 
2,31)1 
1,052 
4,091 

48,199 



8'.i3 

4(:0 

27,928 



29,281 



41,338 
15,071 
12,213 
62,029 

29,115 
10,489 
20,666 

190,920 



52, 
31, 
16. 
62, 
48, 
22, 
23, 



862 
124 
447 
926 
799 
082 
003 



257,303 



52 
42 
12 
17 
08 
52 
17 

37 



$18 00 



35 



FOURTH DIVISION. 



Counties. 



Caroline 

Essex 

Gloucester , 

King and Queen 

King William 

Matthews 

Middlesex. 

Total 



Population. 



White. 



•7,077 
3,277 
4,782 
4,221 
2,943 
4,104 
2,459 

28,863 



Black. 



8,038 
6,650 
5,429 
5,488 
5,455 
2,096 
2,522 

34,078 



Whites 

in 
Towns. 



462 



462 



Acreage. 



Impr'ed. 



137,176 
91,599 
56,777 
75,646 

71,848 
25,370 
32,834 

491,256 



Unimp'd 



120,008 
64.632 
49,813 

78,826 
91,587 
18,007 
34,839 

458,372 



Acres per 
rural white 
inh'bit'nts. 

89 
50 
22 
36 
56 
11 
28 

34 



3>« 



$8 00 



FIFTH DIVISION OR NORTHERN NECK. 



King George 

Lancaster 

Northumberland 

Richmond 

Westmoreland... 

Total 



2,927 
2,198 
3,808 
3,475 
3,531 


2,815 
3,157 
3,054 
3,028 
4,151 




60,404 
34,432 

51,238 
50,206 

58,850 


41,016 
38,133 
52,080 
52,100 
45,592 










15,939 


16,205 




255,130 


228,921 



35 
33 
27 
30 
30 



30 



$7 00 



SIXTH DIVISION. 



Alexandria City.'' 

Fairfax 

Prince William.. 
Stafford 



Total 18,993 



8,367 
5,691 
4,935 



4,284 
1,813 
1.485 



7,586 



354 



354 



103,099 
69,739 
46,090 

128,926 



103,420 
71,026 
85,324 

259,770 



25 
27 
29 



27 



$20 00 



In 186) the negro population, bond and free, of this belt slightly ex- 
ceeded the Whites as to numbers. In 1865 the rest of the negroes were 
emancipated, and it is believed that the Whites are now in considerable ex- 
cess of the Blacks, who are constantly diminishing in numbers, while the 
Whites are increasing both relatively and really. The mortality among 
the Blacks during the war was very great. Immense numbers went 
from this part of the State to the North. The decrease from death is, 
owing to the proverbial improvidence of the race, and other causes, sup- 
posed to be nearly as great now as it was during the war. Infanticide 
has become very common among them, and the marriage obligations are 
but little regarded. Moreover, there has been a great exodus of them 

*The county of Alexandria is very small and principally occupied by the city. 



36 

from all parts of the State to the more sunny climes of the Gulf, and the 
time is supposed to be not far distant when Virginia will be relieved of 
this thriftless class.* 

The Tidewater Belt embraces about 3th of the area of the whole State, 
and it contains about ^d of the negro population, so that on the other 
side of the Blue Ridge the proportion of Blacks to Whites is by no means 
so great as it was here. 

THE PIEDMONT BELT. 

Situation. This Belt lies between the Blue Ridge and Tidewater re- 
gion. The breadth of it varies from 75 to 120 miles, with a mean ele- 
vation above the sea level of 600 feet. 

Where it meets the Tidewater Belt, the average height above the sea is 
not more than 80 feet ; but when it reaches the crest of the Blue Ridge^ 
the height varies from 1,000 to 1,800 feet. 

Water Power, ^c. The streams that traverse this belt assume the 
proportions of mill races at an average height above the sea of 800 feet^ 
Its average breadth is about 100 miles, and the rivers, as they cross it, 
have a fall sufficient for the most ample water power. 

Fall 'per Mile. At Richmond, where the James river tumbles over 
the ledge of granite and other rocks to meet tidewater, there is, in the 
distance of 3| miles, a fall of 84 feet. 

Just before the Rappahannock joins tidewater at Fredericksburg, the 
Potomac at Georgetown, and the Roanoke near Weldon, this same ledge 
crops out and has to be crossed, and the rapids formed by these rivers have 
a fall corresponding to that at Richmond. 

Between Richmond and Lynchburg, a distance of 146J miles by the 
river, there is an effective fall of 429 feet, being an average of 2.9 feet to 
the mile. Between Lynchburg and Buchanan, distance by the river 50 
miles, the effective fall is 299 feet, being an average of 6 feet (nearly) to 
the mile. Between Buchanan and Covington, distance by the river 47 
miles, the effective fall is 436| feet, or an average of 9.3 feet to the mile. 
And on the North river, one of the principal tributaries of the James, 
from Lexington to its junction with the main stream, distance 19^ miles, 
the effective fall is 188 feet, being an average of 9.5 feet to the mile. 

From these data, it appears that the average fall of the James river, 
from Covington [which is on its head waters,] to its junction with tide- 
water at Richmond is 4.8 feet to the mile. For the last 14G| miles of 
its course the average fall is only 2.9 feet, with the exception of the last 
3^ miles, when it is 24 feet. 

"The majority of Whites in this belt is shown by the U. S. census for 1870 to be 
about 25,000. [R. L. M.] 



37 

For the first 97 miles of its course, from Covington to Lynchburg, the 
average fall is 7.6 feet to the mile.* 

This statement furnishes a fair criterion as to the water power afforded 
by the other rivers which traverse the Piedmont Belt of Virginia. It 
will be observed that in the first part of their course the effective fall is 
greater than it is in the last part, with the exception of the 3 or 4 miles 
where they descend the ledge of primary and secondary rocks to join 
tidewater. 

Discharge. As they fall over this ledge, they are estimated to dis- 
charge, in the dry seasons of the year, as follows, namely : 

The Potomac, 1450 cubic feet per second. 

The Rappahannock, 320 " " " " 

The James, 1300 " " " « 

The Roanoke, 1350 " " " " 

By consulting the map, these data are made very instructive. Let 
the immigrant and those who wish to avail themselves of such excellent 
water power, study it in connection with the foregoing statistics. Then, 
bearing in mind that all the streams which flow from this Belt have, just 
before they reach the Tidewater Belt, to pass over the ledge just spoken 
of, and form rapids which offer fine water power and capital mill sites 
exactly where land transportation ends, and navigation begins — let him 
count the tributaries of these rivers, and reckon the fall of the moun- 
tain streams, and he will see that there is no neighborhood, in all this 
Belt, wanting mills or lacking convenient water power for manufacturing 
purposes on a large scale. Indeed, the James river and its tributaries 
alone afford water power enough to line their banks from Covington and 
Lexington, with a single row of factories, all the way to Richmond. 

Within this distance, there are 46J miles of slack water navigation, 
the rest being canal, with rapids in the river. 

The Industries and Natural Resources. For this Belt they are very 
different from those of the Tidewater Belt, and this difference is owing 
chiefly to those laws which regulate climate and govern the geographi- 
cal distribution of human labor. Shipbuilding, seafaring, fishing, and 
trucking, which form such important branches of industries in the Tide- 
water Belt, have no place here. Some of the agricultural staples, too, 
have changed. The farmers in the Piedmont Belt, attach, in their re- 
ports, little or no importance to peanuts, or sweet potatoes, though these 
may be grown there, but, to use their own expression, "they don't come 
to much." Indian corn and the cereals are common to all parts of Vir- 
ginia, but wheat and tobacco may be considered as the chief staples of 
the Piedmont Belt; tobacco more especially on the "Southside." 

* The average fall of the Mississippi is about 2 inches to the mile. 



38 

Mining also forms an important branch of industry in many parts of 
the Piedmont region. It contains minerals enough to raise this branch 
of industry to one of great importance. 

Minerals. The gold region of the Appalachian chain passes through 
this belt. Rising in Georgia, and passing through the Carolinas, it crops 
out in the counties of Amelia, Powhatan, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Gooch- 
land, Louisa, Orange, Spottsylvania, Stafford, &c. 

In the official documents published at Washington, it is estimated that 
not less than $40,000,000 worth of gold has, from first to last, been taken 
from this region.* The gold is found both on the surfiice and in quartz 
veins, included between walls sometimes of clay, sometimes slate and 
hardened rocks. The most profitable mining has been from surface 
washings. As long as the farmers, upon whose lands these deposits 
were found, washed for themselves, and at such times as their hands couldj 
with the least inconvenience be spared from the farm, the business was 
often very profitable. When the washings were first opened, a yield to 3 
or 4 farm hands of $15, $20, $30 a day was by no means uncommon. 

I happen to know of an instance in which a common water bucket of 
ore, taken from one of these places in Orange county, yielded $1100. 
But when the speculators came along and began to form companies to 
raise capital, sink fhafts, pay officers, and work on a large scale, results 
were not so satisfactory. There is, however, still a considerable quantity 
of gold annually taken from this region in a quiet way by the country peo- 
ple. 

Chesterfield and Henrico, Powhatan and Goochland are rich in bitu- 
minous coal, which is extensively mined. 

There are also in this belt deposits of iron, copper, mica, barytes, slate? 
and other minerals, most of which are being utilized. 

Other Minerals. There is a vein, 40 or 50 miles broad, of talcose and 
micaceous slate, interspersed with limestone, running from Halifax and 
Franklin counties obliquely along with the Blue Ridge, passing through 
Louisa and Albemarle, Culpeper and Rappahannock counties, up into 
Loudoun. Very valuable beds of this limestone are crossed by the James 
river between Lynchburg and Scottsville. The river makes fine expos- 
ures of it, and it is quarried extensively. Lime for building and agricul- 
tural purposes is obtained from it, portions of it yield excellent hydraulic 
cement, and some of it is magnesian. 

REPORTS FROM THE PIEDMONT BELT. 

This Belt is composed of the counties of Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, 
Appomatox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Culpeper, 
Chesterfield, Cumberland, Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Fauquier, Fluvanna, 

* Mineral Resources of the United States — Pub. Doc. 



89 

Franklin, Green, Goochland, Greenville, Henry, Hanover, Halifax, Luo- 
doun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Madison, Nelson, Nottoway, 
Orange, Patrick, Prince Edward, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Spottsylva- 
nia and Rappahannock. 

BRUNSWICK COUNTY. 

Report and estimates by E. R. Turnbull, Esq., (postoflfice, Lawrence- 
ville). 

Health ? Very healthy. 

Water? Excellent and abundant. 

Staple Crops ? Wheat from $2 to ^2.50 per bushel ; tobacco $12 per 
100 pounds ; cotton 28 cents per pound ; corn $1 per bushel. 

Timber ? In the forest, white, turkey, red Spanish, and post oaks ; 
hickory, pine, poplar, walnut, &c. The cleared lands, which have not 
been in cultivation for 18 or 20 years, have on them a very heavy growth 
of what we call "old field pine." [This is the case throughout the Pied- 
mont and Tidewater Belts generally. — M.] 

Lands ? Very low in this county. Large or small tracts can be 
bought at from $2 to $6 an acre, having on them, in some cases, excel- 
lent dwellings and other improvements. 

The cost of clearing our forest lands is very heavy, and it is thought 
to be greater than improving the worn out lands. 

Labor ? Negro labor can be had at about ^100 the year — rations 
and quarters being furnished them. To industrious working men who 
will aid H3 in the advancement of the material interests of the county, 
the right hand of fellowship will be gladly extended, no matter whence 
they come. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Churches ? We are not convenient to 
market, at present, but hope soon to be by the construction of a railway. 
Churches, schools, postoffices, and manufacturing mills in almost every 
neighborhood. 

The Most Successful Lndustries ? Tobacco and cotton at present, 
but with proper facilities to market, it is thought that vegetables and 
fruits, including grapes, could be cultivated with more profit. 

Best time for Emigrants to come ? September. Wheat is sown in 
October, and harvested in June ; corn is planted in April or May, and 
gathered in October or November ; tobacco is planted in May and June, 
and housed in September and October ; cotton in the early spring, and 
picked in the three autumnal months. 

Estimate for a young married man, well up to his busines'g, sober, sav' 
ing, and industrious, ivith $500 in gold, ivishing to establish himself upon 
a farm of 40 acres in Brunswick county. 



40 

First Year. 
Purchased 40 acres at $5 per acre — 

First payment • S 66 67 

Horse or mule - 150 00 

Cow and calf. 20 00 

Sheep, sow and pigs 20 00 

Poultry, fruit trees and seeds 80 00 

Buildings, &c 100 00 

Fertilizer, $200 ; feed for horse, $50 ; cart and farming utensils, 

&c., $60 310 00 

Planting and cultivating 20 acres wheat, 10 corn, 5 oats, 5 tobacco 
with vegetables, &c., including extra labor, provisions and 
groceries 300 00 

Total outlay $1,046 67 

Sales (reserving for home use). 
200 bushels wheat at $2.25, 150 corn at $1, 4,000 pounds tobacco 

at $12 $1,080 00 

Garden, dairy, &c 10 00 

Total receipts ...$1,090 00 

Second Year. 

Second payment on land $ QQ 67 

Cultivating wheat (20 acres), 10 corn, 5 tobacco, with extra labor 

included 250 00 

Another horse 150 00 

Fertilizers, $200 ; groceries,'; $25 225 00 

Wagon and harness, $100 ; clover seed, $10 110 00 

Total outlay $ 801 67 

Sales (deducting as before). 
200 bushels wheat at $2.25, 100 bushels corn at $1, 4,000 pounds 

tobacco at $12 $1,080 00 

Garden, dairy, &c., $30; increase of live stock, $50 80 00 

Total receipts $1,160 00 J 

Third Year. 

Last payment for land $ 66 67 

Extra labor, fertilizers, farm expenses, &c., $450; groceries, $25; 

clover seed, $20 495 00 



Total outlay $ 551 67 

Sales. 

250 bushels wheat at $2, 150 bushels corn at $1, 5,000 pounds to- 
bacco at $12 $1,250 00 

Orchard, garden, dairy, &c 100 00 

Increase live slock 50 00 



Total receipts $1,400 00 



I 



41 



MECKLENBURG COUNTY. 

Estimates as above by W. D. Haskins, Esq., of Clarksville, Mecklen- 
burg county, §500 in gold=$665.62 in currency : 

First Year. 

Purchase 40 acres of land at $5 per acre — 

First payment $ 66 67 

Buildings, &c 300 00 

Two horses, $250; cow and calf, S20; sheep, $7h', sow and pigs, 

$10; poultry, seeds, &c, $59.55 347 05 

Wagon and harness 120 00 

Provender 176 00 

Timber for enclosures, if delivered where used 88 20 

Fuel delivered at house 52 00 

Farming and other utensils 50 00 

Cultivating 15 acres corn, 10 wheat, 12^ oats, 2j tobacco 150 00 

Groceries and provisions 125 00 

Total outlay $1,474 84 

Sales (reserving for home use). ^ 

175 bushels corn at 80 cents, 115 wheat at $2, 100 oats at 62 cents, 

2,400 pounds tobacco at $10 $ 672 50 

500 pounds pork at $12 60 00 

Garden, dairy, &c 40 00 

Total receipts $ 772 50 

Second Year. 

Second payment on land $ 70 67 

10 acres corn, fertilizers, &c 47 00 

22 acres wheat and oats, fertilizers, &c 140 00 

3 acres tobacco, fertilizers, &c 30 00 

Potatoes and vegetables, fertilizers, &c • ■. 14 00 

Extra labor 60 00 

Groceries 25 00 

Fuel, if purchased 52 00 

Total outlay $ 436 67 

Saks (deducting as before). 

100 bushels corn at 80 cents $ 80 00 

245 bushels wheat at $2 490 00 

100 bushels oats at 621 cents 62 50 

3,000 pounds tobacco at 10 cents 300 00 

15 pounds wool at 30 cents 4 50 

Orchard, Garden, dairy, &c 40 00 

500 pounds pork at $12.. .' 60 00 

Increase live stock and poultry 35 00 

Total receipts .$1,072 OO 



42 



Third Year. 

Last payment for land $ 74 67 

Farm expenses, extra labor, fertilizers, &c 350 00 

Groceries and fuel 82 00 

Total outlay $ 506 67 

Sales (deducting as before). 
265 bushels wheat, 100 bushels corn, 100 bushels oats, 3,000 pounds 

tobacco '. $ 972 50 

27 pounds wool at 30 cents 7 10 

700 pouuds bacon at 20 cents 140 00 

Orchard, dairy and poultry 40 00 

Increase live stock 50 00 

Total receipts 81,209 70 

From Mr. Haskin's report, which relates to a district of 100 square 
miles, of which the village of Clarksville, Mecklenburg county, is the 
centre. 

Situation ? The village is on the south side of the Roanoke river, 
at the junction of the Dan and Staunton rivers. Produce for the Rich- 
mond market is conveyed by batteaux, either up the Dan river, 3) miles, 
to the Danville railroad, and thence by rail, 108 miles, to Richmond, or 
down the Roanoke river, 60 miles, to Gaston, and thence by rail, 62 
miles, to Petersburg, or 84 miles to Richmond; cost being the same by 
both routes, viz: per bushel of wheat, including freight and tolls, 39J 
cents ; corn, 24^ cents ; tobacco, 78 cents one hundred pounds. The 
Norfolk and Great Western railroad is intended to pass through this 
county. It will greatly lessen the expenses of getting to market and 
enhance the value of lands. 

Aspects? Generally undulating, so as to require but little drainage, 
more attention being required to keep the hillsides from washing than 
to keep the bottoms drained. The hills are not too steep to prevent the 
use of reaping machines. 

Water? Delightful freestone, and in great abundance from natural 
springs. Wells from 30 to 60 feet deep, but the undulating character of 
the country renders brooks abundant. 

Forests ? Oak predominates in the original forests, of which there is 
every variety, save live oak. After oak comes pine, then hickory, dog- 
wood, black and sweet gum, poplar, ash, maple, elm, beech, persimmon, 
sassafras, walnut, sycamore and cedar. Exhausted or abandoned lands 
grow up rapidly in ''old field pine." 

Health ? Compares favorably with that of any locality in the United 
States. 



43 

Climate ? Temperate and uniform. It differs from that of the States 
further North, chiefly ia its longer summers and milder winters. Snow- 
rarely exceeds 6 inches in depth, or lies upon the ground more than 10 
days. (Ice from 2 to 4 inches thick is generally ohtained to fill the ice- 
houses)." 

Mr. Haskins gives, from his journal, the mean monthly temperature 
at 3 P. M., average of 3 years : 

"January, 42° 1; February, 49° 1; March, 56° 3; April, 62° 6; 
May, 69° 1 ; June, 77° 5 ; July, 81° 4 ; August, 78° 2 ; September, 
71° 2; October, 63° 4; November, 60° 2; December, 42° 7." 

Staple Crops ? Wheat, corn, oats, tobacco, hay. 

Yield? Varies according to fertility of soil and mode of cultivation. 
Wheat, from 10 to 40 bushels per acre : corn, from 15 to 60 ; oats, 15 
to 50 ; tobacco, 500 to 1,000 pounds ; hay, from 1 to 2 tons. The 
largest yield in this locality was, for wheat, 35 bushels per acre from 
36-| acres ; from another lot of 16| acres, the yield was a little over 
43 bushels the acre. A lot of 40 acres yielded 158 bushels 3 pecks 
per acre of corn. A lot of 5 acres yielded 1,500 pounds tobacco per 
acre. 

Cultivation ? Cost, including seed, is, for wheat, $14 per acre; oats, 
$10.50; corn, $10; tobacco, $60.50; hay, $5. 

Grasses ? Clover, timothy and herds grass* (red top). Clover is 
mostly cultivated. Hay will not bear transportation to market. 

Farm Work? Fallowing for corn from December to January inclu- 
sive. It is planted in April and gathered in November. Fallowing for 
wheat is done in August and September ; seeded in October, and har- 
vested about the 20th of June. Tobacco is planted in May and June ; 
housed in September and October, and is in a marketable condition as 
soon as January. 

Fruits and Vegetables ? Admirably adapted to peaches, apricots, ap- 
ples, pears, grapes, cherries, strawberries, &c. Indeed, all the smaller 
fruits may be grown in great perfection and abundance ; they are now 
grown only for home consumption. Excellent vegetables, &c., of all 
varieties due to the latitude. 

Land? The present assessed value of land in this county averages 
a fraction under $7 the acre. Unimproved open land without buildings 
may be had for $5 the acre; with buildings, in small tracts, for $10. 
In tracts of from 300 to 500 acres, with all necessary buildings and en- 
closures, from $8 to $10. Usual terms of payment — one-third cash, 

*Being sowu with wheat, requires no separate cultivation, and is only changed with 
harvesting. 



44 

the balance in one and two years; but sucb is the disposition of land- 
owners at this time to encourage immigration, and so much of the land 
is held by persons holding large tracts, that much more favorable terms 
will be given to immigrants, especially those who are thrifty. 

Labor .^ The only labor to be had at present is negro labor. The 
large farmers, who hire by the year, get good men for from $7 to $10 
per month with rations, furnishing houses and fuel for them and their 
families. The ration is 3J pounds bacon and IJ peck corn meal per 
week, besides fruits and vegetables. When hired by the single month, 
the laborer is paid $15 the month, but then he furnishes his own rations. 
Reapers in harvest time get $1.50 per day and rations. 

Buildings ? A frame cabin for the immigrant's family] would cost 
$150, a tobacco barn $100, and a stable $50, if the lumber was pur- 
chased oflf the farm and a carpenter paid for their construction. * 

Enclosures ? Estimating the price, both of timber and labor, the 
cost of fencing would be about $7 the acre. Fuel costs $2.50. the cord ; 
the fuel, therefore, for such a family as I have intimated for, would, if 
the immigrant had to buy it, cost $50 a year; but it would be economy 
for him to purchase 60 instead of 40 acres of land, of which 20 might 
be timbered, and he would thus save the expense of purchasing the lum- 
ber for buildings, fences and fuel. It would also afford some pasturage 
for his cattle. A pair of serviceable horses or mules cost §250, cow 
and calf, $20 or $25, sow and pigs $10, sheep $1.50 each. 

Churches and Schools ? Both abundant and convenient. 

Cases of Successful Industry? Two of the wealthiest men in this 
county commenced life with less than $500 ; the one as a blacksmith, 
the other as a deputy sheriff. One of them is now the ownor of 4,000 
acres of land, and has, besides, more money than the land is worth out 
at interest. The other owns 6,000 acres of the finest river land in this 
section, besides a large amount of money out at interest, which yields 
him an ample income independent of his lands. Both of these gentle- 
men acquired their wealth by their own exertions, and none of it by 
marriage or inheritance. 

PATRICK COUNTY. 

Reports of Robert M. Clark, postoffice Sandy Plains ; of Thomas G. 
Petzer, Mayo's Forge, Patrick county, and of Colonel William E. Cut- 
shaw, Virginia Military Institute. 

Aspects? Hilly and rolling with fine bottom lands along the numer- 
ous streams of water, by which the country is drained. Soil on the 
hillsides thin, but susceptible of improvement. 

G-eological Structure ? Primary and metamorphic with outcroppings 



45 

« 
of gneiss, slates, hornblende and quartz. Copper ore of good quality is 
found here, and has been worked in several places. 

Industries ? Principally farming and some grazing. 

Health ? Very good. 

Epidemics? Typhoid fever and pneumonia. 

Water ? Freestone ; very pure ; cool springs abundant. Wells, only 
occasional, depth from 50 to 75 feet. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, oats, rye, buckwheat, tobacco ; wheat yields 
very well when it is properly cared for. Distance to market is so great, 
however, that it is not much cultivated. 

Yield per acre? Wheat, from 5 to 10 bushels; corn, from 20 to 35 
bushels ; oats, 30 bushels ; tobacco, 500 pounds. 

Fruits ? Apples, pears, peaches, plums, quinces, &c. ; abundance of 
yield of wild grapes ; very fine when cultivated. 

Vegetables ? Potatoes — sweet and Irish, turnips, pumpkins, tomatoes, 
with a great variety of others. 

Forest ? White, red, black, Spanish, post, water and chestnut oaks, 
hickory, tulip, chestnut, dogwood, walnut, &c. 

Wild Berries ? Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, whortleber- 
ries, gooseberries. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Churches ? Plenty of mills and churches ; 
few schools and no good markets. 

Price of Land? $2 to $10 the acre. 
■ Price of Labor ? 50 cents a day. Tobacco the most profitable crop. 

CHESTERFIELD. 

Report of Colonel S. Bassett French, of Whitby, Chesterfield county, 
editor of the Farmer s Grazette, 1117 Main street, Richmond, Va. 

Aspects ? This county is a long and narrow peninsula between the 
James and Appomattox rivers, with several creeks passing through it. 
On these river and creek bottoms, the land is very fertile, and, under 
the slipshod culture prevailing in this State, have never equalled their 
capacity. Away from the water courses, the land is lighter and less fer- 
tile. 

Health? Climate salubrious and healthy. I have lived in this place 
over 20 years, and never, before the war, when it was well drained, knew 
of a case of bilious fever, or one of ague and fever to originate on it. 
The average medical bills did not exceed $1 per head per annum. 

Staple Crops ? Wheat, corn, oats, &c. Irish potatoes and hay are 
beginning to assume the dignity of staples; fruits, also, are commanding 
much attention, and trucking is an important branch of industry. 



46 

• 
Grapes, blackberries and raspberries grow wild in great abundance. To- 
bacco is raised with great success in the uplands ; and hij in larger quan- 
tities than ever before. The lands produced it well, and much profit is 
realized at $20 the short ton. Lands can be made to carry three sheep 
to two acres; and it has been demonstrated in the adjoining plantation 
that there is no crop superior to sheep. (See May number Farmer's 
Gazette, p. 45 ; herewith sent you). [This account is given by Colonel 
F. G. Ruffin, of Chesterfield, editor of the Southci'n Planter and Farme?, 
I condense from it, — M.] 

Col. Ruffin had two lots, one of 100, the other of 65 acres, which had 
been grazed to death during the war, and in 1865 had grown up into a 
go'od pasture of blue grass, herds grass, red, white, and yellow clover, 
but overrun with blackberry, dewberry vines, broomstraw, and the Vir- 
ginian creeper. He renders the following account of a flock of sheep 
(by no means such as he wanted). In this estimate, he has taken no ac- 
count of feed, because, as he says, the flock had none of any value, their 
food consisting chiefly of the refuse trash from hay, sheaf oats, corn 
stalks, &c. The small value of these was more than returned by the 
amelioration of the land. He goes on to say, "Neither is there any 
charge for shelter, because there was none. The winter was uncommonly 
severe. My sheep yeaned in February and March, and in the latter 
month it rained or snowed twenty-eight days. 

Cost of Stock. 

July 21, 174 sheep purchased at S3. 30 $ 574 20 

August 7, 57 ewes ; grade Southdowns, at $3.50 199 50 

September 1, 3 rams, Southdowns, for 100 00 

$873 70 

Sales from above Stock. 

10 muttons. $50; 43 wethers, $261 $ 311 00 

98 lambs 420 00 

40 drafted ewes 160 00 

Pulled wool and pelts 20 00 

Wool 173 55 

$1,084 55 

Stock on Hand. 

48 ewe lambs ; grade Southdown, at $5 $ 240 00 

121 choice ewes at $5 605 00 

3 rams 100 00 

$945 00 

Sales $ 1,084 55 

Improvement in value of stock 72 00 

$1,156 55 

132|- per cent, on cost — ^7 per acre on 165 acres worth $60 per acre 
— or 11.67 per cent, on value of land. 



47 

This shows 132i per cent, on cost of sheep, $7 per acre rent on land or 
lands worth, before the war, by estimate $G0 per acre, or 11.67 per cent, 
interest on that valuation. But the land (whose contiguity to Richmond 
makes its special value) is generally a stiff clay — second low grounds of 
James river, as we call it, though eighty feet above the first low grounds — 
and ranks, by no means, as a first class soil. Many farms excell, and still 
more equal it in fertility, and rate, according to locality, from ten, fifteen, 
up to twenty dollars per acre, gaining proportionately on my per- 
centage of rent. But, really, as our lands possess no market value at 
present, that question is unimportant, compared with this. Can we af- 
ford the outlay for the sheep ? 

Col. French furnishes the following statement, as to his profits, from 18 
ewes and 1 ram in 1866-7-8 : 

1866 : 18 ewes, 1 ram, long since fully paid for : 

Sales of lambs, 14 averaging $7. 5C* $ 105 00 

Sales of wool (pounds not stated) 28 00 

Cash sales $ 130 00 

Consumed in family 8 Iambs, charged at the rates of 14 sold CO 00 

Retained 5 to supply the place of old ewes to be drafted 20 00 

Yield of flock, all profit $ 213 00 

1867 : 22 ewes, 1 ram : 

Sales of lambs, 16, at $5.60 per headf, $ 89 60 

Sales of wool 38 00 

Cash sales $ 127 oO 

Consumed 6 muttons at $5 30 00 

Consumed C lambs at So. 60 33 GO 

Retained 11 to add to flock at $4 each 44 00 

Yield of flock, all gain, .. .' $ 235 20 

1868: 
Sold the whole flock — 27 ewes. 1 ram, 1 wether, with their lambs, 

54 in number, at 63.83 per head. $ 206 82 

Consumed iu family 3 muttons at $5 15 00 

" " 3 lambs at $4 12 00 

AUagain $ 233 82 

The lambs were dressed at home, and retailed to friends in the city. 
No account of pelts and offal was taken. The field had all been laid 
open by Sherman a few weeks after the surrender at Appomattox Court- 
house ; so their range was free and wide. "No pent up Utica confined 
their tours." 

No estimate of the profit on the land nor of the rental per acre can 
therefore be afforded. To the owner it was tvaste land. He never gave 
a'dollar's worth of provender to his sheep from the day he purchased 
them to the hour he sold them, except to a mutton stalled for Christmas 

• Retailed at 25 conts in Richmond. 
tRetailed at 20 cents per pound. 



48 

dinner, and for a few weeks in 1865 when he was obliged to conceal them 
in a cellar from the Federal troops camped on his farm. Sheep sheltered 
every night. The stock was native, and was very prolific. In 1866, 
eighteen ewes yeaned twenty-nine lambs; two died, or were lost. In 
1867, twenty-two ewes yeaned thirty-six lambs ; three died. In 1868, 
twenty-seven ewes yeaned thirty lambs, of which two died. 

Yield j)er acre? River lands — 50 bushels corn, 28 wheat, 30 oats. 
While the average on high lands would be from two-fifths to three-fifths 
less. 

Prices ? Vary ; last year (1868), wheat from $2 to $2.50 per bushel ; 
corn, $1.20 (now, 80 cents) ; oats, 80 to 83 cents ; potatoes, 75 cents to 
$1 the bushel ; tobacco, $12 to $25 the hundred. 

Fruits and Vegetables ? Apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, 
&c., with all the vegetables known in the State. 

Natural Groivth ? Mostly pine and oak, chinquapin, hickory, chest- 
nut and cedar. I am not prepared to give the cost of clearing the land 
for the plow, but some of it in my neighborhood has been cleared for 
the wood and timber upon it. 

Mills^ Markets, Schools, and Churches ? There is no portion of the 
county that is not within 10 miles of ready communication by rail or wa- 
ter with Richmond or Petersburg. Churches and postoflSces are conve- 
niently distributed throughout the county ; as to schools, I cannot say. 

Land f There have been no recent sales. Anti-helium the river 
lands varied from $50 to $120* the acre according to situation, while 
the lands a little way back varied from $5 to $10*. I suppose the same 
figures would be asked now in greenbacks. A good piece of land, not 
over 5 miles from rail or river, might (with fair improvements) be pur- 
chased at $12 per acre, 3th cash, the balance in 1, 2, 3 and 4 years. 
Without improvements and \ timber land for 65 per acre on same terms. 

Labor ? Not very high, certainly not higher than in 1860 when farm 
hands hired for $150 per annum, board and clothes. First rate plow- 
man 612 per month and board, common laborers for $8 to 610 and 
board. 

Cases of Individual Success ? A negro woman, in sight of my house, 
on the hills about 80 feet above tidewater, on a freshly opened and un- 
drained lot of 4 acres, made last year 15 barrels corn, 400 bushels po- 
tatoes, besides feeding her family with meat and vegetables raised by 
herself; she also kept a cow. 

On six sevenths of an acre I made, with miserable cultivation, after 
manuring with a superphosphate (one-half Peruvian guano, one-half bone 
ash, at rate of 300 pounds to i\\Q acre), 250 bushels early Goodrich 

* [From $3 to $50 is the usual price now.— R. L. M., 1877.] 



1 



49 

potatoes. Garden vegetables pay handsomely. Perhaps there is but 
one wealthier man in this county than a German, who, when I first came 
into the county, 'IS years ago, was a gardener on the "Falls Plantation" 
(man on wages); he made his fortune gardening. 

Estimates. 

A married man tvith $500 m gold, if industrious, thrifty and up to 
his business, could not fail to do well in this county. 

A log house (and none are more comfortable) would cost the labor of 
felling the trees, building the pen, riving the shingles, and a cash outlay 
of S3 for nails, $5 for help, $15 for shingles and sheeting; total, $30 
at the most. Outhouses for stock and crops, &c., at same rate. Good 
horses or mules vary from $150 to $200, but at the horse marts late in 
the fall and during the winter, very fair animals, but low in flesh, may 
be had for from $40 to $00 ; a middling cow and calf from $45 to $60 ; 
a sow and six pigs from $18 to $20 ; 6 sheep for $18 ; hens and cocks, 
50 cents each; turkeys, $1.50 each; two-horse plow, $10.50; single 
horse plow, $5.50; cvltivator, $7; corn planter, $15; vegetable seed 
drill, $S ; spade, $1.50; hoes, $3 per dozen ; axe, $2; wedge, 75 cents ; 
second-hand carts and wagons, $20 to $50 ; wheel-barrow, $8 ; vines 
and fruit trees — grapes, $6 per hundred ; strawberry plants, 60 cents to 
$1 per hundred ; peach trees, 25 cents each to $8 per hundred ; apples, 
pears, &c., 25 cents each. 

On 40 acres of land, one-fourth in wood, I would not advise the sta- 
ples of wheat, corn and oats, except for family use, but would prefer 
trucking and the fruits. To the man and wife with $500 in gold, I 
would say, of your 30 acres of arable land, set aside 20 for hay and 
pasture as soon as practicable, and put out your strength on the remain- 
ing 10. Set 8 out in apples, pears and plums ; the last two 18 feet 
apart each way ; the apples 30 feet, with the peach trees half way be- 
tween them. [These will be out of the way when the apples are in full 
bearing.] The remaining 2 acres set in grapes. In the grape rows 
plant tomatoes and early potatoes. Between the grapes may be sown, 
for two years, garden truck or strawberries. Four acres of orchard set 
to raspberries, two acres to blackberries, and two to currants and goose- 
berries. When the fruit trees have grown to overshadow the land, the 
small fruits may be mov^d to another spot. 

Price and Yield 9 Cabbages, 5 cents each, 500 per acre, $250 ; rasp- 
berries, $200 per acre ; strawberries, 1,800 quarts per acre, at 10 cents, 
$180 ; blackberries, 2,500 quarts per acre, at 10 cents, $250; 20 acres 
in grass, 20 tons, at $20, $400 —total, $1,530. Costs of trees, plants 
and labor, $765, leaving a profit of $25.50 per acre. When the fruit 
4 



50 

trees and grapes begin to bear, the income will be largely increased. 
Milk in Richmond is worth 10 cents a quart, buttermilk 4 cents, and 
butter 40 cents the pound. 

It would be better for the stranger to settle here in the fall ; he would 
then be ready for a fair start in the spring. 1 will most cheerfully re- 
ceive any deserving stranger ; give him all the desired information, 
friendly counsel and neighborly service in my power ; and if he under- 
stands vine-dressing and wine-making, would give him an interest in my 
vineyards, &c., on such terms as would enable him to establish himself 
comfortably. 

AMELIA. 

Report of Dr. M. Bannister, Amelia Courthouse: 

Aspects 9 "Undulating; no level surfaces of considerable extent. 
The hillsides not steep enough to interfere with cultivation. The county 
presents an endless variety of hill and dale, which, if brought to a high 
state of cultivation, would render it, with the richness and variety of its 
forest foliage, a land of great loveliness. The soil is a grey loam rest- 
ing upon a substratum of clay. Of the latter, our best wheat land 
seem to be composed. They are of a stubborn character, but capable 
of great fertility. The grey lands are more readily improved, and are 
especially adapted to corn, oats and tobacco. My remarks apply espe- 
cially to the northwestern portion of the county. This whole section of 
country has been subjected to a system of tillage, which, perhaps, in a 
much shorter period of time, would beggar Great Britain. The soil, 
naturally of a generous character, has been in every way imposed upon, 
and thus, with a continuous draft upon it for more than a half ceatury, 
during which nothing has been returned to it, it cannot now be profitably 
cultivated without the aid of resources, necessary even at the present 
day to the English farmer. It responds promptly to judicious efforts at 
improvement, and during its progress, to a high degree of fertility, is 
abundantly remunerative. Abundantly manured and skilfully cultiva- 
ted, as the land of England is in every respect, the production of the 
lands in this country would, I believe, not be inferior. Such culture 
and improvement would require four or five times as much as the origi- 
nal purchase money, yet it would pay.* 

Health ? The sun does not shine upon a more healthy land ; no dis- 
eases are peculiar to it. 

Water? Springs of freestone water abound, and never failing wells 
of good water may be had at an average depth of 30 feet. Brooks 
are abundant, and no country is better watered. 

*Iu this county numerous families from Great Britaia have located, aud are pleased 
and prosperous. — 11. L. M., 1877. 



51 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, tobacco and oats. 

Yield? Varies from 10 to 40 bushels corn per acre, 5 to 20 bushels 
•wheat, 10 to SO bushels oats, 500 to 1,500 pounds tobacco. The smaller 
figure are obtained by the scratching system of cultivation, generally 
pursued without manure or fertilizers of any sort. Last year (1868) 
the wheat crop was a fiiilure, owing to rust caused by excessive rains in 
May; but the year before (1867) my next neighbor made 428 bushels 
upon 20 acres, and I 500 upon 26 acres. We sold at $2.65 the bushel. 
The highest yield of wheat ever known in this county was 80 bushels 
the acre on 20 acres. 22 bushels the acre is the largest yield I have 
known upon a field containing as many as 100 acres. Usual prices : 
wheat, $2; corn, $1.; oats, 75 cents per bushel; tobacco, Sl2 for 100 
pounds. 

Climate? Temperate, with occasional excesses for short periods 
both in winter and summer. It differs from that of Pennsylvania, chiefly 
as to length of seasons. Our winters are shorter and milder, and our 
summers longer, but the extremes of heat and cold not so great. Here 
the ground is rarely covered by snow more than two weeks in the aggre- 
gate, and it occasionally happens that ice is not thick enough during the 
season to be harvested. As early as the latter part of February the 
winter is usually broken, and the seeding of oats begins, and by the end 
of the month out-door work has made considerable progress. Except 
for the rains, there is subsequently no interruption of farm work until 
the end of December. December is usually dry and pleasant, and in 
it much of the plowing for the next year's crop is accomplished. Dur- 
ing the whole year but vei^y few days are lost to the farmer, for the wet 
days of winter and spring are profitably devoted to the handling of to- 
bacco and other in-door work. 

Seed-time and Harvest ? Corn is planted in April and May in <yround 
prepared the preceding November and December; it is gathered in 
November. Fallowing for wheat begins in August; it is seeded in Oc- 
tober and harvested in June. Tobacco is planted in May and June, and 
housed in September and October. It may be sent to market before 
Christmas, but it is profitably retained for putting up in "shipping or- 
der" and sold in May or June. The profit of tobacco cultivation on 
manured and well-managed lands is immediate and large. 

Best Time for Coming ? The new comer should take possession 
about the 1st of July ; he can then complete his buildings in a favorable 
period of the year and seed his wheat. It is desirable that he should 
bring with him such labor as he will require. A frame or log cabin of 
the plainest sort can be built for about $75 ; rude and temporary out- 



52 

buildings for, I suppose, about $30 ; a horse can be purchased for about 
$100 ; a cow and calf for $20 ; sow and pigs for $10, 

Fruits and Vegetables ? Peaches, apples, pears, apricots, grapes, 
strawberries, cherries, and all the smaller fruits can be cultivated with 
facility and success; and there is no vegetable known in the temperate 
zone that delights not in our climate. 

Grasses ? Clover thrives best, and grows luxuriantly ; herds grass 
(red top) succeeds well, and upon the dry flat lands timothy yields abund- 
antly. 

Land? From $15 to $25 per acre is the usual price of the liome- 
stead portion of the estate ; this contains the residence, outbuildings, 
stables, &c. Unimproved lands, without any buildings, usually sell for 
from $10 to $12 the acre. The usual terms of payment are : one- 
third cash, and the remainder in one and two years with interest at 6 
per cent. Sometimes one-fourth in cash is accepted, and the remainder 
in one, two and three years. The universal desire is to sell a portion 
of our landed estate to respectable white men, to whom liberal terms 
"will be granted. 

Scliools, Churches, Markets and Postoffices ? Churches in every 
neighborhood ; postoffices convenient. There is a high school in the 
county. The Appomattox river, by batteaux, and the Danville and 
Southside railways make the markets of Richmond and Petersburg con- 
venient. 

Forest ? Rich in building materials. Pine, oak, hickory, tulip, pop- 
lar and maple are the principal trees. 

Successful Cases f A neighbor of mine, living upon 50 acres of land, 
sold his crop of tobacco last year for $1,200. Another, who cultivated 
40 acres of tobacco, sold it for $6,400. After charging this one crop 
•with his whole agricultural cost of the year, it left a nett profit of 
$3,400. Another, who employed 4 laborers, with an occasional extra 
hand or two, sold his tobacco crop for $1,400, and having deviated from 
the routine cultivation of corn upon exhausted land only, by using a ton 
of guano ($90) upon his field of 25 acres, made from it 650 bushels of 
corn," 

JDr. Bannister's estimate for a settler purchasing 40 acres of land 
at $10 : 

FIRST YEAR. 

*First payment land, $100 ; buildings, $75 ; 1 horse, $100; 
cow and calf, $20 ; sow and pigs, $10 ; fatming implements, 
$35; single wagon, $75; seed wheat for 10 acres [10 bushels], 

* Usual terms one-third cash, remainder in 1, 2 and 3 years. 



53 

$25 J fertilizer, $70 ; provender for livestock, $78 ; seed oats 
[10 bushels] $6.20; hire, for extra labor, $60. Total out- 
lay $654.20 

Sales [deducting for home use). 
160 bushels corn, $128 ; 80 bushels wheat, $200 ; 30 bushels 
oats, $18.60 ; 3000 pounds tobacco ($10), $300 ; garden, 
dairy, &c., $30. Total receipts $647.60 

SECOND YEAR. 

Second payment on land, $100 ; fertilizers for ten acres corn, 
20 wheat, 3 tobacco, $215 ; extra labor, $60 ; 5 sheep, $10. 
Total outlay $385.00 

Sales [reserving for home use). 
218 bushels corn, $174.40 ; 200 bushels wheat, $150 ; 30 bush- 
els oats, $18.60; 3000 pounds tobacco, $300; 15 pounds 
wool, $4.50 ; orchard, poultry, &c., $40 ; increase live stock, 
$5. Total receipts $992.50 

THIRD YEAR. 

Third payment on land, $100 ; fertilizers, extra labor and other 

expenses, $300. Total outlay* $400.00 

Sales [deducting as before). 

218 bushels wheat, $490.50; 218 corn, $174.40 ; 30 bushels 
oats, $18.40 ; 3000 pounds tobacco, $300 ; 30 pounds wool, 
$9 ; 800 pounds pork, $80 ; garden, dairy, &c., $50 ; in- 
crease of livestock, $50. Total receipts ; $1,172.50 

B. Canada, of Scotsburg, in Halifax county, says that cases of large 
earnings in Halifax county are numerous. He instances the following : 
*'I. M. L. who, at the fall of the Confederacy, was without money, horses, 
bread and meal, is to day (December 1870) worth $12,000. Next comes 
G. Y. H., a prisoner from Point Lookout, who in June 1865 returned 
home without a cent, having neither bread, meat, horses, or anything else ; 
he is now worth $5000. Next is W. Y. C. who came from a Yankee 
prison in 1865 completely destitute. One gave him a suit of clothes, 
another gave him a horse, with which he went to farming, and is now 
worth $7,000. Last is T. C. W., who commenced 3 years ago to work, 
without a cent to start with, at 50 cents a day, and is now a well to do 
farmer, worth at least $1000 cash. These gentlemen are all among my 
immediate acquaintances. H and L mentioned above rented all the 
while, paying one third of the crop as rent. 

* Outlay for groceries, &c., depends on the habit of the settler. Very many of our 
own people, for a year after the war, dispensed with them entirely. Extra labor 
only is estimated in the cost of cultivation, the settler is supposed to throw in the la- 
bor of self aud wife. 



64 



PRINCE EDWARD. 

Report of Judge A. D. Dickinson, Prince Edward Court-house. 

Climate ? "As you are aware, it is much milder than it is in the Valley 
or beyond the Alleghanies, as the winter is of shorter duration, the 
crops have a longer period for maturity. It is cold enough, sometime 
durinf the winter, for the ponds to freeze, and I have not known a win- 
ter for 20 years when ice was not put up. 

Water? Small streams are abundant, which afford ample water 
power. 

Forests ? In them timber is abundant, consisting of oak, poplar, 
pine, locust, walnut, hickory, etc., including several varieties of sugar 
maple. 

Range ? The range for cattle is good, especially in the forests of the 
James river ; sheep prosper here as well as anywhere. They are rarely 
fed. In the clover fields and pine forests, they ordinarily find sufficient 
food, except in brief intervals when the ground is covered with snow. 

Minerals ? There are, in this immediate neighborhood, traces of iron, 
slate, and plumbago, but none have been mined. There is a large de- 
posit of coal throughout this county and Cumberland. It has been raised 
in this immediate neighborhood only to a limited extent, but is of excel- 
lent quality. The Farmville Coal Mines (10 miles from this place) are 
successfully worked. In the adjoining county of Buckingham gold and 
copper have been mined. 

Staple Crops ? Tobacco, corn, wheat, rye, oats, hay, with all the 
fruits and vegetables common to Virginia, grow well here, but tobacco 
is our specialty. It is the most prbfitable crop, our soil and climate be- 
ing peculiarly adapted to it. Grain and grasses are also profitably cul- 
tivated. 

Yield? Before our system of industry was broken up by the war, it 
was not unusual for a good planter to average from $500 to $600 to the 
hand, counting all the hands of the farm, and in some instances, larger 
averages were reached. At the present prices of tobacco and Avheat 
[which is much higher now than before the war] greater profits may be 
realized with the same amount of labor. Good planters frequently make 
from 3000 to 4000 pounds of tobacco to the hand, besides grain and 
other crops. I have known 100 bushels of corn to be raised on a single 
acre in this immediate neighborhood. 

A reliable neighbor informs me that he has averaged 75 bushels 
throughout his field, and he thinks much of his land will average that 
this year. His land, however, is a rich alluvial bottom, and his average 
much above the usual. The same neighbor informs me that prior to the 
war, he has averaged, for market crops, over $600 to the hand, includ- 



65 

ng women and all who worked in the field — some 15 of 20 in number. On 
one of my farms, in the adjoining county of Nottoway, I made, with 5 
hands and 4 horses, 22,000 pounds of tobacco and 1,200 bushels of long 
corn, besides the short and inferior corn, fodder, oats, &c. The pro- 
duct of that crop was more than $600 to the hand." 

CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 

Report and estimates of Wm. A. Miller, Esq., of Clifton (postoflSce 
near Cartersville, Cumberland county). 

Aspects ? "The country is rolling, level enough to be easily cultivated, 
and hilly enough to carry off the water ; just about right in this respect. 

Climate F As in all this section of Virginia, short and mild winters 
wiih spells cold enough to freeze the ponds and give us ice for ice- 
houses . 

Fish ? In the streams and rivers we have the chub, the silver perch, 
the sun perch, the pike, the flat-back, carp, cat-fish, garr, mullet, mason, 
whitesides, and others. [The Legislature has passed an act, recently, 
to encourage fish culture, and the streams are now being stocked from 
the mountains to the seas with the finest varieties of fish. As an indus- 
try, it has been entirely neglected heretofore in the freestone waters of 
this State.— M.] 

Staple Productions ? Tobacco, wheat, corn and oats. A few culti- 
vate rye, and some think it more profitable than wheat. 

Yield? Greatest yield of wheat known to me is 41 bushels to the 
acre. A truthful man told me that while he was manager on a farm ia 
this county, he made 80 bushels of corn to the acre. I have heard of as 
much as 110 bushels to the acre in this county, for some of its. lands are 
very fertile, by the use of plaster, hen-house manure, and lime ; I have 
been informed that a gentleman here has made as much as 2000 pounds 
of tobacco per acre, and I have known a little over a thousand pounds 
to have been made. I have known a very large quantity of Irish pota- 
toes to be made from a very small quantity planted. I regret I cannot 
furnish you with particulars, but the yield was very great. 

Minerals and Mines ? The principal are gold, coal, and slate. The 
coal mines have been worked many years. In the adjoining county of 
Buckingham, there is a gold mine and a slate quarry. I don't know if 
the gold mine is worked at present, but the slate quarry is exten- 
sively. [This slate is of fine quality, and in great demand. — M. ] 
There is gold also in Goochland and Fluvanna, the latter has been work- 
ed successfully since the war. 

Timber ? White, red, black, and Spanish oak, eld field woods pino, 



56 

pine, and yellow pine, sweet and black gum, slippery elm, hickory, dog- 
wood, poplar, elm, chestnut, buckeye, sugar maple, willow, cedar, &c.> 
&c. The oak, elm, chestnut, and woods pine, are the largest trees. Oak, 
hickory, poplar, and woods pine are best for timber ; for shade and grand- 
ure, the elm, and oak of our section will, I suppose, compare favor- 
ably with the grandest trees of any country. There are large timber 
forests in Buckingham county. 

Cattle? Not much attention has been paid in this county to cattle 
raising, but I think on some of our improved farms it would be profit- 
able, especially those which have large bodies of woodland in which the 
cattle could live during the summer, and require very little attention. 

Water ? The James river runs along the northern border "of this 
county, the Appomatox along the southern, and the Willis along its 
western border ; they afford a vast amount of water power. 

Sheep f They are generally allowed to do the best they can for them-, 
selves in summer and winter, and have veri/ little attention paid to them, 
unless the snow remains on the ground for some time, or during a long 
spell of bad weather, when, perhaps, occasionally they get a few bundles 
of fodder and oats. 

Judging from the way they thrive in this county [where they are so 
inhumanly treated] I should say they would greatly flourish and multiply, 
were proper attention paid to them. 

Fruits and Vegetables? Peaches, apples, pears, cherries, quinces, 
apricots, nectarines, watermelons, plums, persimmons, blackberries, dew- 
berries, currants, raspberries, paw paw apples, &c., with sweet and Irish 
potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, asparagus, onions, celery, cab- 
bage, beans, peas, snaps, turnips, parsnips, salsify, corn, cyralings, &c. 

Successful Cases ? I know a gentleman who purchased a farm of 
very poor land in this county in 1852. It was covered principally with 
hen-nest grass, broomstraw and old field pine, and was washed into gul- 
leys. By a liberal use of Peruvian and other guanos, salt, superphos- 
phate of lime, etc., the farm, in a few years, was made to produce very 
fine clover. Although tobacco was cultivated on it every year, and large 
crops produced, as well as oats, corn and wheat, still his farm continued 
to improve. It was sold [in the latter part of 1862, I think] for nearly 
6 times its cost ; this fact shows what a liberal application of fertilizers 
will do for our lands." 

Estimates for a young married man with $500 in gold, well up to his 
business, sober, saving and industrious, ivho wishes to establish himself 
in the county of Cumberland on a farm of 40 acres. 



57 

FIRST YEAR — OUTLAY. 

First payment on land, $70; buildings, ^175; horse or mule, 
$90; cow and calf, $18; sheep, $10; seed, poultry and 
fruit trees, $25 : sow and pigs, $5 ; farming and other uten- 
sils, $25; cultivating 10 acres of corn, 10 do of wheat, 10 
do of corn, with potatoes, vegetables, extra labor, etc., $192; 
groceries and provisions, $150. Total outlay $760.00 

Sales {after deducting for liome use). 
200 bushels corn at $1, $200 ; 115 bushels wheat at $2.75, 
$310.50 ; 72 cwt. oats at $1.70, $122.40 ; 12,000 pounds to- 
bacco, at $14, $1680; garden, dairy, and poultry yard, 
$170. Total receipts * $2482.90 

SECOND YEAR— OUTLAY. 

Land, $65 ; cultivating 10 acres corn, 10 wheat, 8 oats, 10 to- 
bacco, 2 potatoes, with extra labor, $192 ; groceries, $75. 

Total outlay...... $332.00 

Sales {reserving as brfore). 

200 bushels corn, $200; 115 bushels wheat, $310.50; 72 cwt. 
oats, $122.40; 12,000 pounds tobacco, $1680; wool, $15 ; 
orchard, garden, dairy, and poultry yard, $225. Total re- 
ceipts $2552.90 

THIRD YEAR — OUTLAY. 

Payment for land, $65 ; farm expenses, including extra labor 

and fertilizers, $461 ; groceries, &c., $75. Total outlay $601.00 

Sales {deducting for home use). 
200 bushels corn, $200 ; 100 do wheat, $270 ; 72 cwt. oats, 
$122.40; 12,000 pounds tobacco, $1680; wool, $25 ; 6750 
pounds bacon 17 cents, $1147.50 ; garden, dairy, poultry 
yard, and increase of livestock, $250. Total receipts ..$3694.00 

BEDFORD COUNTY. 

Report of Gen. Thomas T. Munford, of Glen Alpine (postoffice, For- 
est depot, Bedford county). 

Soil? Gray red loam. The red lands are the best, though with ma- 
nure both are kind and quick. In the mountains we have beautiful gran- 
ite. 

Staple Crops? Corn, wheat, oats, tobacco, and the grasses, such as 
clover, timothy, orchard grass, Kentucky blue grass, and the natural 
blue grass of this State. A fair sample of all of them can be seen at 
Glen Alpine. 



58 

Yield? Good land, clover fallow, will produce 15 bushels -wheat, 
25 bushels corn, and 25 to 35 bushels oats per acre. The best lands 
bring from 1000 to 1500 pounds tobacco, worth from $5 to §100 per 100 
pounds, according to quality. Usual price of corn per bushel from 80 
cents to §1, wheat from |1.50 to $2, oats from 50 to 75 cents. 

Labor? Carpenters ^1.50, field laborers 30 to 50 cents per day, 
and by the month from $6 to $10. 

Fruits and Vegetables ? Fine fruits. Peaches cannot be surpassed. 
Apples will keep well during the whole year, and pay very handsome- 
ly. I have known the fruit of one apple tree to bring $30 in a season. 

The grape grows to perfection here. The sides of the mountains and 
the margins of all the brooks and creeks, when allowed to grow up, are 
filled with different varieties of wild grapes which, when cultivated, yield 
handsome returns.* The nurseries about Lynchburg offer every facility 
for supplying fruit and vines, both native and foreign. Choice apple 
and peach trees cost about $20 per 100. Potatoes, sweet and Irish, 
grow wild, as do also vines and melons. 

Forests ? Consist principally of oak of many varieties, hickory, pop- 
lar, and the finest chestnut I ever saw. No pine. 

Price of Lands ? From $8 to $10 per acre. The farms are gene- 
rally large, but there is a strong disposition to cut up and sell. Seve- 
ral Northern gentlemen have located here, and are highly delighted 
with the genial climate. 

Live Stock ? Sheep remain out all the winter unsheltered, and w^th 
moderate attention, double their number annually; the wool paying all 
expenses. Early lambs sell readily at home for $3 a head, good mutton 
$5 

It is estimated that, with proper management, a cow will give 3 to 4 
gallons of milk per day for 6 months in the year. I have made cheese 
on this place which sold in Lynchburg as high as 28 cents per pound. 
Any practical cheesemaker, who will undertake the business here, as it 
is carried on in England, will make $100 from each cow, besides raising 
a good hog for every three cows. 

The average temperature of the best springs (and good "water is im- 

* Mr. n. M. Armsteed, of Campbell Court-house, with three acres of vineyard and 
3000 vines, has made SOO gallons of wine per acre, which sells for $2.50 to $•') per gal- 
lon. The vines are Ives, Concord, lona, Alvey, Delaware, Rogers No. 4 and 15, 
Hartford, Clinton, Catawba, &c., six to eight years in bearing. These grapes are 
comparatively free from rot and mildew, and are all superior for wine or table use. 

Mr. John C. Murrell, of Can)p!)ell Court-house, raises 300 bushels of apples per acre, 
•worth 50 cents per bushel. Ilis best market varieties are Wiuesap, Ilusset, and Lady 
Apple. 

Mr. R. C. Davis, of Nelly's Ford, Nelson county, has 3000 bearing apple trees on 
80 acres. The yield per annum ranges from 1 to l.") bushels per tree ; losses about 
20 per cent. He prefers as market varieties the Pippin, Esopus, Spitzeuburg, Bald- 
win, &c.— Report U. S. Com. Ag., 1871, p 148. [R. L. M.] 



59 

portant to the cheesemaker) is from 54° to 56° in summer, and so mild 
in winter that the milk never freezes in my spring-house. The mutton 
and beef, "grass fed," will compare favorably with that of any part of 
the country. It is estimated that cattle yearlings, two and three year 
olds, will double yearly ; that is, at a cost of $10 for a good j^earling, 
you may, with good pasture, get $20 in October of the same year, hav- 
ing purchased him in the spring. Cattle do well, keep in fine order all the 
winter on wheat straw and corn stalks, unsheltered. Of course they 
would do better under a roof. Few countries ofifer greater dairy induce- 
ments. A good cow, with a calf at her side, can be had at from $30 to 
$50. 

Reivards of Industry ? I have divided up my farm and rented it, 
with my tools and teams, to 8 men — poor soldiers from the war who had 
nothing left them but their industry. They are doing well. I have, on- 
this place, 4 men who, by one single year's crop, have become quite in- 
dependent, beginning with nothing. They have each purchased a good 
horse ; have in store a year's supply of meat and bread, and are out of 
debt, with a little money in hand, besides paying me a handsome rent 
for my land. I have a neighbor who, also, works on shares with 4 
men — poor soldiers who returned penniless from the army, and divides 
nett proceeds. His share last year was §800. There are a number of 
old citizens who began life as mechanics or overseers in this county, who 
are now in independent circumstances, owning comfortable farms and 
having raised large and respectable families. ", 

General Munford estimates that a good double room log house can be 
built for $100; a good horse can be bought for $150; a good yoke of 
oxen, $100; a good cow from $25 to $50 ; a good sow and pigs from $10 
to $20 ; ordinary sheep from $2.50 to $4. Such sheep, he says, will 
clip from 2 to 4 pounds when allowed to run to a straw stack in winter, 
even though they be unsheltered all the year. Fowls are easily raised, 
and pay handsome returns for attention." 

AMHERST. 

Report and estimates by L. Minor, Esq., (postoflSce Salt Creek, Am- 
herst county) : 

This farm is situated 14 miles above Lynchburg and 3J miles from 
James River and Kanawha canal. 

Climate? Salubrious. 

Aspects ? Like all the rest of the Piedmont portion of the State, 
the country is beautiful beyond description. The water is unsurpassed 
for excellence. The price of land varies from $12 to $35 the acre. 
Locust, hickory, oak with all its various kinds, chestnut and walnut, are 
the growth from which we obtain our timber. 



60 

Cost of Clearing? From $5 to §7 the acre ; but we have more open 
land already than can be cultivated judiciously for more than a century 
to come, unless Euitope could be induced to empty her surplus popula- 
tion into our lap. 

Staple Crops? Corn, wheat and tobacco. 

Yield per acre? Corn, from 12 to 63 bushels; price, 80 cents. 
Wheat, from 5 to 30 bushels ; price, §2.50. Tobacco, from 1,000 to 
1,200 pounds, at $6 to $50. The season for seeding is from 20th Sep- 
tember to 20th October for wheat; from 20th March to 20th May for 
corn and oats. Best time for immigrants to come is July or August. 

Our lands have not attained to one-third of their productive capacity; 
consequently we can form scarcely an approximate estimate of their 
powers of production in the hands of judicious and industrious hus- 
bandmen. 

Churches, Schools, 3IarJcets, (fc. ? All convenient. Lynchburg is 
our market; reached by rail or canal. 

Vi7ie and Fruit Culture ? This has not been engaged in sufficiently 
to justify an opinion as to its profits. There can be no doubt, however, 
that all the fruits which will bear transportation, such as apples, grapes, 
&c., may be successfully and profitably cultivated. Only one man of 
my acquaintance in this section of the country has turned his at- 
tention to fruit culture, and he only to the apple. The product of his 
orchard yielded him, I think, between $3,000 and .§4,000. The fruit 
was sold in the Northern cities, and much of it, I think, sent to Eng- 
land. [The delightful apple, known in England as the American or 
New Town Pippin, comes from this and the neighboring counties of Al- 
bemarle and Nelson. It is a native of Albemarle. When gathered 
carcrully and properly packed, it commands readily in the New York 
market from §12 to §16 the barrel; and I have heard of other apples 
from Albemarle which, last year, commanded as much as §25 the bar- 
rel.— M.] 

There can be no doubt but that the grape would flourish here and 
yield an immense profit to the grower. These rich, warm mountain 
sides — grey, gravelly soil — are sufiicient evidences of the fact that our 
country is admirably adapted to vine culture. But the expense of the 
preparation for wine-making is, as we understand it, nearly as great as 
that attending sugar-making, and it is very difficult, as you know, to 
get a people confirmed in habits and customs such as ours, to abandon 
them all at once, branch out and adopt a new and untried system ; par- 
ticularly when pressed so severely as we are, in consequence of the 
ravages of war, for the means of living. 



61 

Cases of Profitable Industry? On the farm adjoining mine, last 
year, an industrious negro being the sole operator, the owner having 
been absent in an adjoining State, the sum of ^750 was realized from 
the sale of the crop. This, of course, was after sustaining the man 
and his stock. The product of one man's labor is equal to the gross re- 
ceipts from the same on the best managed sugar plantations of Louisi- 
ana. There are several instances in this county of poor men not only 
having made a competency, but moderate fortunes, and had they set out 
in the beginning with the determination to make "two blades of grass 
grow where one only grew before," I am confident their fortunes would 
have been enhanced five fold. As for my experience, there is scarcely 
any limit to the productiveness of the soil when properly manured and 
tilled. Two of my neighbors cultivated an adjoining farm to mine, and 
they give me the following as the result of their year's work together on 
the same farm: They had three horses, and their extra labor in all 
amounted to about $100. They sold: wheat, 390 bushels, $900; corn, 
1,375 bushels, §1,237 ; oats, 500 bushels, $250 ; rye, 75 bushels, $75. 
Total sales, $2,462. 

A young friend of mine was taken from school last year to manage 
his father's farm consisting of 600 or 700 acres. He gives me this re- 
sult : 1,050 bushels corn ground in meal, $945 ; 800 bushels oats, $400, 
and watermelons enough to pay all his extra labor, amounting to $50 or 
$75. The fiirm on which young Robertson made this crop, worth $1,145, 
is held at $30 the acre. There are two other young men in this neigh- 
borhood living on land which may be purchased for $15 or $20 the acre, 
who received still greater returns, because of their making tobacco along 
with their other crops. But I have not been able to see them to get 
actual figures. These are all men of rare industry and economy, but 
very indifferent managers. My two neighbors above named, on the ad- 
joining farm, are cultivating land this year from which they are exnect- 
ing at least 1,500 bushels of corn, 6,000 pounds of tobacco and 250 
bushels of wheat, besides oats; but what they are to realize is yet in 
the future. 

Supposing a young married man with S500 in gojd-, well up to Ids 
business, industrious, saving and sober, wishes to establish himself on a 
farm of 40 acres in the county of Amherst, ivhat would be Ids probable 
expenses and income for the first three years ? 

Estimates. 
"40 acres at $23 per acre.'' 

FIRST YEAR. 

First payment, $306.66 ; buildings, $200 ; horse, $160 ; cow 



62 

and calf, ^25 ; sow and pigs, $8 ; poultry, $5 ; fruit, $12.50 ; 
■wheat, clover, and otlier seed, $58 ; wagon, plows, and har- 
ness, $95 ; farm and other utensils, $10 ; cultivating 10 
acres corn, 15 wheat, 5 oats, with potatoes, vegetables, &c., 
including extra labor, $60 ; groceries and provisions, $14-1. 

Total outlay $1085.66 

Sales {deducting for home use). 
150 busheb corn at 80 cents, $120 ; 100 bushels wheat at 
$2.25, $225 ; 1000 pounds tobacco at $6, $60 ; proceeds of 
garden, dairy, &c., $10. Total receipts $415.00 

SECOND YEAR — OUTLAY. 

Second payment on land, $306.66; for cultivating 10 acres 
corn, 15 wheat and oats, 2 tobacco, with potatoes, vegetables, 
groceries, &c., $67.50. Total outlay $374.16 

Sales [deducting as before). 
175 bushels corn $120 ; 120 bushels wheat, $240 ; 1200 pounds 
tobacco, $72; proceeds of orchard, dairy, poultry yard, &c., 
$10; increase of livestock, $20. Total receipts $472.00 

THIRD YEAR. 

Last payment on land, $306.66 ; extra labor, fertilizers, gro- 
ceries, &c., $123.50. Total outlay $430.16 

[Sales deducting as before). 
150 bushels wheat, $300 ; 225 bushels corn, $180 ; 80 bushels 
oats, $40 ; 1200 pounds tobacco, $72 ; 20 pounds wool, $18 ; 
200 pounds bacon, $30.66 ; proceeds orchard, garden, poul- 
try yard, &c., $10; increase of live stock, $25. Total re- 
ceipts $665.66 

j^oTE. — The iisual payments for lands is in three equal annual instalments. Soil deep' 
red or dark grey. A farm to be judiciously cultivated should have more than one 
horse ; it should also have some wooJIaiul attached to it. I would rather recomuiead 
to a farmer who had but ^'>00, first to increase that sum by renting until he could pur- 
chase i)0 or GO acres at least. The expense of settlitis; 40 acres would, except the 
price of land, be the same as settiiu'jj 60, while the advantages are much greater. In 
that he would have 10 acres in wood and timber, and 2 horses are required to break 
the sod. 

ALBEMARLE. 

The University of Virgiiiia is near Charlottesville in this county. 

Albemarle is one of the fiaest counties in the State ; her industrial 
energies have been directed with an intelligence, and applied with a 
skill rarely surpassed. The Reports and Estimates for this county, like 
those from all other parts of the State, are from gentlemen who are well 



63 

known in their neighborhood as excellent farmers and men of high stand- 
ing. 

Reports and estimates from Wm. Minor, Esq., of Gale Hill (postoffice, 
Charlottesville) of Dr. W. G. Carr, of Bentover (postoffice, Charlottes- 
ville) and of W. W. Gilmer, Esq., ( postoffice, Ivy Creek, Albemarle 
county). 

Mr. Minor says : "I feel greatly at a loss in answering your inquiry 
in the supposed cases of a young immigrant coming, with his wife and 
$500 in gold, to settle on a farm of 40 acres, and wants, as a guide, an 
estimate showing the best way of laying out his money, in the purchase 
of land and stock, for the same, with a programme showing the quanti- 
ty of each article to be cultivated and his probable and necessary out- 
lay for the 1st, 2d, and 3d years. 

In the outset, I would say, that on my part of the Piedmont Belt 
(near Charlottesville) be could not buy 40 acres of land for his S500 in 
gold. Then he must either buy a smaller quantity of land, or buy on 
credit. Suppose for illustration, he succeeds in buying near a railroad or 
cheap water line of transportation the 40 acres of land for .^700 in cur- 
rency, equal to $500 in gold, for one-third cash, and the balance in 1 
and 2 years. 

Without sending you the minute details, which I ^have collected for 
my own satisfaction, I will say that it will cost him for stock, necessary 
tools, hire of plowing and labor and supplies (including provisions for 
the year, manures, &c.) one-third of his capital, another third being 
paid in cash for his land, that he should cultivate from \^ to 2^ acres 
(made rich) in cabbage and root crops for market, and for feeding his 
stock, which with his garden and one acre of corn broad cast for hay? 
and about 6 acres of corn for food, would, in addition to supporting bis 
family and stock abundantly, give him not less than $360 nett profit for 
the year's operations. This would enable him to make his second pay- 
ment for the land, and leave a balance of $126| towards his last payment- 

This 10 acres cultivated, the first year, should be sown down in orass, 
And the second year another 10 acres should bo treated in the same way, 
which, after supportirig the fiinily, would yield the same nett profit and 
make the last payment on the land, leaving two-thirds of the original capi- 
tal on hand, to be used either in more enlarged operations on the farm, or 
in putting up necessary buildings and improvements, or in commencing the 
fruit business, which should be done as soon as practicable. 

The third year the same system on another 10 acres, with the same 
results, would put the owner in possession of a snug little income, to 
be increased by the profits of the grass crop on the first 20 acres, and 



64 

this leaves 10 acres for wood and buildings, and as collateral profit, 30 
acres of land very much improved in productive capacity and from 10 
to 15 per centum in market value ; besides the increase of stock arising 
from his two cows, sows and pigs, originally bought in stocking the 
farm, to say nothing of poultry and other small items which are thrown 
in for incidental expenses, &c. 

I would state, in this connection, that an acre of cabbage (6,000 
heads) ou^ht to yield, nett, in the Richmond market, 6 cents a head 
(as a minimum), and this would yield the income I have claimed above 
with no other product sold off the farm. 

I have made this estimate, as requested, in your circular, but I doubt 
very much if the young emigrant would not do better with his capital 
by renting good land for a few years, especially with the pre-emption 
privilege of 40 acres or more of the land so rented at the end of the 
lease, say 5 years. 

To your question of "the greatest amount of earnings made, to my 
knowledo^e, by one man (with occasional help) in my neighborhood from 
the soil or from any other branch of industry ? " I have known a man 
to make $2.50 a day and found (^. g., board and lodging provided) digging 
cisterns for me and in ditching for others ; he was a very hard workman. 
An ordinary ditcher would make 61.50 a day and board ; while in ordi- 
nary farm work, 50 to 75 cents per day and board is as much as is paid, 
except harvest wages, wbich rule from $1 to $1.75 per day and board. 

The price of mechanic's labor is much higher, varying from $1 to 
$1.50 a day for ordinary and fair carpenters, and higher for fine car- 
penters, with board. 

I know men hereabouts who, by steady industry and economy on the 
farm, have, from very small beginnings, accumulated at the end of 10 
or 15 years a very good property, and so in other departments of indus- 
try. These were exceptional cases, however, and were due to character 
and habit, upon which thrift so much depends. 

It may be well to add that the stranger who comes among us to set- 
tle would, if a good citizen, be welcome to our hand and hospitalities. 

The price of good land is relatively high in Albemarle county, es- 
pecially near Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, where it 
ranges from $20 to $75 the acre. In other portions of the Piedmont 
Belt good lands may be bought for $5 to $25 the acre. 

The expense of living is much higher than it was before the war. 
Corn meal sells for $1 the bushel ; flour for from $9 to $12 per barrel; 
pork for $10 cwt. nett; beef, $8 to $10 nett; groceries quite high. 



65 

Industries? Cultivation of the soil and grazing, including the rais- 
ing and fattening of stock and dairy business; mining, manufacturing, 
mechanic arts, fruit culture, lumber business and fish culture. 

Minerals in the Piedmont Belt? In Buckingham, Fluvanna and 
Goochland counties, &c. — gold andiron in Buckingham and Louisa • 
slate in Buckingham and Albemarle; lime in Albemarle and Orange; 
granite in Goochland and Fluvanna; copper in Albemarle and Nelson, 
&c. ; -lead in Albemarle and Nelson ; coal in Chesterfield and Gooch- 
land ; plumbago in Albemarle ; mica in Hanover, and building stone 
everywhere. 

Fruits and Vegetables? Apples, peaches, pears, grapes, cherries, 
apricots, plums, quinces, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, black- 
berries, whortleberries, currants, damsons, melons, figs, &c., with cab- 
bage, potatoes (Irish and sweet), turnips, onions, beets, peas, beans, 
asparagus, carrots, corn, cucumbers, cymlings, egg-plants, lettuce, okra, 
mustard, parsnips, pepper, spinach, pumpkins, tomatoes, salsify, radish, 
snaps (French beans), rutabaga, &c. 

I^uts ? Walnuts, hickorynuts, hazle, pecan, chestnuts, chinquapins, 
&c. 

Timber? Oak and pine in variety, hickory, chestnut, mulberry, lo- 
cust, ash, gum, beech, walnut, maple, wild cherry, &c. 

Water ? Good and plentiful, with abundant water power in every 
neighborhood. 

ITow Long are Cattle Housed in Winter ? They need be housed only 
a month or two, and even do well without housing, if well fed. 

Greatest Profits of Sheep and Cattle Raising? Western Virginia 
and East Tennessee can raise cattle cheaper than Piedmont, hence the 
custom of us to buy from thence 2- and 3-year olds, graze and fatten 
them for market. On such cattle, the grazier here frequently doubles 
his purchase money in 10 or 12 months. The usual profits made in 
this way on cattle, vary from 50 to 100 per cent. Sheep, with similar 
management, I think, would yield as much. This we call grazing profit, 
and the expense of winter feeding is considered to be paid for by the 
manure. 

Agricultural Staples ? ^ndian corn, wheat, tobacco, oats, buckwheat, 
hay, with fruit culture ; and raising vegetables for city markets is be- 
coming profitable. 

Cases of Crreatest Profits ? Prior to our late war, I have known cases 
of 6 and 8 per cent, being made on the agricultural capital, besides a 
collateral profit made in the enhancement of the value of the estate. 
In the greater number of cases now, nothing is made over a support for 



66 

the family, and in few cases not even that much. Since the war agri- 
cultural profits are less than before. I hear of fair profits, in some few 
cases, on the best managed farms; but I am told by most farmers that 
they are making nothing but a support and expenses. Some well au- 
thenticated reports have been made to me of very large profits made 
from apples; and this branch of business, including the culture of 
grapes and other fruits in Piedmont Virginia, offers, I think, a very large 
field of profit to enterprise and skilled industry." 

Dr. Carr, from the same neighborhood, gives the case of Captain P., 
whose capital, at the close of the war, 1865, (with wife and child) con- 
sisted of two cavalry horses. "He borrowed $1,000; set up a country 
store (his family living in a small cabin near by), and has now (1869) 
paid the money borrowed, bought and paid for the best establishment in 
the village, with 20 acres of land, a good brick dwelling, storehouses 
and every other necessary outhouse." 

T. also in service during the war. His wife and child lived on a rented 
farm of 300 acres, where they managed to subsist themselves during 
hostilities. When he returned to his home after the surrender, his capi- 
tal consisted of two horses, the tools and stock usually kept on a small 
farm, with- household and kitchen furniture. Aided by his three little 
boys, the oldest 14 years old, he went to work, hiring help when needed, 
and has prospered wonderfully. His tobacco crop has brought him 
12,000 annually; his crops of wheat have not been large, but he raises 
a surplus of almost everything, so that he has always something to sell. 
With a large family of children growing up around him, he has main- 
tained them in comfort and cleared $5,000 or $6,000 on rented land. 
Last fall he went to Nebraska to see if he could better his fortunes by 
investing his capital in Western lands, but finding that more money 
could be made by farming in Virginia than in the West, he returned, 
and has bought and paid for a good farm of 300 acres at $3,000. 

These gentlemen are prudent in their expenditures, not niggardly, 
and no families live in more real comfort than theirs do, and none dis- 
pense hospitality with more pleasure. 

The cases are numerous, and crowd upon me of men who have made 
large fortunes by farming in Albemarle. Some of these, as William 
Garth, John H. Craven, John Rogers, are known all over the State. 

I remember when F. B. rented a few acres of southwest mountain 
land of Hugh Nelson, of Belvoir, went to work with one horse and 
plow — his only capital. "He soon bought the land, rented more, en- 
larged his operations, soon bought again ; married a wife as industrious 
as himself, but without dowry, built a neat house, added yearly to his 
estate, and is now the owner of more than 1,000 acres of good land, 



67 

surrounded by every comfort and convenience, and is discharging all the 
duties of an intelligent and honest citizen. 

My friend and next neighbor bought part of the Dunlorce estate — 400 
acres for $16,000. He had the money for only one payment; but in 15 
years he had paid for it; had purchased 900 acres more; had his farm 
amply stocked with the most approved breeds of all sorts ; improved his 
house and grounds, and lived in abundance and luxury. His estate, 
when the war commenced, was worth more than ^100,000." 

"S. B., T. G. and N. B. each began life as overseers, and became the 
richest farmers in the county. 

I know of no trade or occupation which has failed to bring respecta- 
bility and independence to its follower, if pursued with sober industry." 
[Such, also, is my observation in all parts of the State. — M.] Our 
flourishing woollen factory was established and carried on by J. A. M., 
who came to Charlottesville a butcher, without means. 

Our very valuable iron foundry, with shops for the manufacture of all 
sorts of farming implements, was established by a machinist with no 
capital but his trade, industry and good character. David Byers, an in- 
dustrious Irishman, who has been the ditcher in my neighborhood for 
more than half a century, was so intemperate and thriftless until he was 
50 years old, that he had not laid up a cent, and was content to live 
with his family in any cabin he could get ; changed his habits, became 
sober, saved his money, and invested it in unimproved lands. Within 
the last 15 years he has bought 100 acres 3 miles from Charlottesville; 
has built a neat, comfortable dwelling with necessary outhouses, and has 
orchards of peaches, apples and other fruits in bearing. 

This is what men living near me have done, and whose operations I 
have witnessed. Doubtless many others have done as well or better. 
Some of our wealthiest families are the descendants of blacksmiths. My 
neighbor, E. F., and the heirs of T. L. being among them. 

To settle a stranger in a strange land is a delicate task. But I can't 
go far wrong in advising him to invest his money in real estate — select- 
ing good land, well wooded and watered, and within striking distance of 
market. Let what will happen, he can support his family comfortably 
on 40 acres; for that in Albemarle is more than sufficient to support a 
family. The orchard, the vineyard and the garden will occupy but a 
small portion of the farm, and its yearly profits and increase hereafter 
will depend on the attention given to those at the start. 

The stranger can best judge of the quality of the land by the character 
of the rocks upon it; for it is better to get land, where the mineral con- 
stituents are good, though much worse than better looking land in which 
these important elements are deficient. The first will improve by thorough 



68 

tillage alone; the last will deteriorate. He should select a farm with 
at least 10 acres of forest in a body and a good spring, near which the 
homestead should be located. The wood land being inclosed, would fur- 
nish a constant range for hogs and fowls, and in the winter and spring 
for sheep and cattle. It would be an ever present source for leaves and 
mould for manure. 

A snug cabin and other necessary houses would, if built of his own 
timber, cost only the price of the nails and glass and the hire of some 
help, not exceeding in all ^100. 

40 acres of land may be bought for $600 in three payments. 

The new comer ought to get possession during the summer, and in 
time to knock up a cabin by September. In this month he should fal- 
low 15 acres for wheat, and sow by the middle of October. Five of 
these should be seeded with a bushel of timothy, and enriched with 
1,000 pounds guano. This would insure a fine crop of wheat and a 
good stand of grass on these 5 acres at least. 

The next work — plow well 4 acres of land ; the most suitable for an 
orchard and vineyard, 100 choice apples and 50 dwarf pears, costing 
$30, would plant 2 acres. Grapes, looking to a vineyard, to be gradu- 
ally extended to 5 acres, cost $100. This work could be finished in No- 
vember. Potatoes, cabbages and peas should be planted for 3 years be- 
tween grape rows, and well manured from stable, cow yard and hog pen. 
The orchard should have a dressing of 500 pounds guano to the acre, 
and then be put in tobacco for 5 or 6 years ; all the manure that could 
be spared from the potatoes and cabbage should be given to the tobacco. 
1 acre in cabbage, 6,000 heads, would bring $200 ; 1 acre in potatoes, 
150 bushels, $150; 2 acres in tobacco, 2,000 pounds, $2t}0 ; 10 acres in 
corn would yield 275 bushels, $275; 15 in wheat, 200 bushels, $400. 

The rotation, outlay and sales can be seen and understood better from 
X\iQ proforma estimate carried through a series of years: 

First Year {Outlay). 
40 acres of land at $15, $200; 2 mares, $200; cow and calf, $25; 
sow and pigs and six good ewes, $30 ; 12 fowls, 4 turkeys, 4 ducks, $10 ; 
100 choice apple and 50 dwarf pear trees, $30; 900 choice grape vines, 
$100; seed, $52; meat, bread, groceries and provender, $105 ; Culti- 
vator, hoes, axes and smithwork, $30 ; two-horse wagon and gear, $80 ; 
1 ton guano, ^'^i>', 1 bushel timothy seed, $4; season of 2 mares, $10; 
taxes, $5; extra labor, $100. Total outlay, $1,126. 

Sales (deducting for home use). 
100 bushels corn, $100 ; 150 bushels wheat, $300 ; 150 bushels po- 
tatoes, $150 ; 2,000 pounds tobacco, $200 ; 6,000 head cabbage, $200 ; 



69 

25 turkeys, $25 ; other poultry and eggs, $10 ; 25 pounds wool, $8 ; 
500 pounds pork, $40. Total receipts, $1,033. 

N. B. — I have allowed full price for every necessary article required 
to carry on the farm for the first year, and laid the foundation for 
large profits in the future The guano should be applied to the 5 acres 
of wheat intended for meadow and to the tobacco crop. The estimated 
receipts are not extravagant; the yield allowed per acre is below the 
average that good farming produces, and prices less than the average of 
the last four years. Cabbage sells readily at from 5 to 10 cents per 
head ; is a very sure crop, and could be fed to advantage in fattening 
any kind of stock. 200 bushels Irish potatoes may be made on an acre, 
and if a portion of them were of an early variety they would sell for 
$2. Sweet potatoes* might occupy part of the acre ; they yield much 
more than the Irish, and sell for a much higher price. 

Second Year [Outlay). 

Second payment of land, $200 ; extra labor, $150 ; 2 tons of guano, 
$170; taxes and shop account, $10; groceries and mares, $35. Total 
outlay, $505. 

Sales (deducting as before), 

150 bushels wheat (11 acres guanoed), $300 ; 100 bushels corn (10 
acres), $100; 2,000 pounds tobacco (2 acres), $200; 6,000 head cab- 
bage, $200 ; poultry, $35 ; 30 pounds wool, $10 ; 4 lambs, $14 ; 150 
bushels potatoes, $150; 1 yearling colt, .^40; 2| tons timothy hay, 
$50; 500 pounds pork, $40. Total receipts, $1,139. 

N. B. — This year the vineyard should be extended by planting 3 acres 
more with plants raised from cuttings and layers from his own vines. 
1 colt may be raised every year from 2 mares. 11 acres wheat being 
guanoed, would yield as much as 15 acres the first year without guano. 
The 5 acres of meadow would yield 8 tons of hay. I allow the stock 
to consume most of it. 

Third Year {Outlay). 

Third payment on land, $200 ; extra labor, $200 ; 2 tons guano, $170 ; 
taxes, shop account and 2 mares, $25; 1 bushel clover seed, $5; trellis 
for 2 acres of vines, $50; fixtures for wine, $100; groceries, $25. 
Total outlay, $775. 

Sales (deducting as before). 

150 bushels wheat, 100 bushels corn, 2,000 pounds tobacco, 6,000 
cabbages, 150 bushels potatoes, $900; 1 yearling colt, with increase 
value, last year's colt, $80 ; 2| tons hay, 25 turkeys, 30 pounds wool, 



70 

poultry, eggs, &c., $100; grapes and wine (2 acres\ $500. Total re- 
ceipts, Sl,^70. 

N. B. — The rotation should now be changed so as to sow 5 acres in 
clover every year as a green crop to stand one season. This will dimin- 
ish the area for wheat and corn by this amount. But, being well ma- 
nured and cultivated, the same amount would be produced. The vine- 
yard being now enlarged to 5 acres, the profits will increase very fast." 

The Doctor then gives estimates as to outlay and sales for the 6th 
year, making a total of $622 for the former and $3,220 for the latter, 
in which he includes his 5 acres in grapes (at $500 the acre) at $2,500, 
and 50 bushels pears at $4 a bushel. Supposing the settler to be well 
up to his business, efi"ectively assisted by his wife ; to continue to be so- 
ber, saving and industrious, the Doctor goes on to submit an estimate 
for the 12th year, in which he allows $1,000 for outlay, and makes the 
receipts $5,100, in which the only new item is 300 barrels of apples at 
$5 the barrel. Reconsiders that $2,500 is a low estimate for a vine- 
yard of 5 acres; for, excepting California, he thinks the soil and climate 
of Albemarle as well adapted as any other for grape culture. 

He adds : "The whole grape crop last year around Herman (400 acres), 
a large proportion being Catawba, which failed, yielded on the average 
$500 the acre. It should be mentioned in this connection that $300,000 
or $400,000 are expended in the county annually by the students of 
the University." 

Mr. Gilmer thinks that no beginner can do well in Albemarle with 
less than 120 acres of land and $1,500 in cash. His estimates for 120 
acres of land at $25 the acre are : 

"First year, total outlay, $4,655; total receipts, $1,730. Second 
year, total outlay, $725; total receipts, $2,000. Third year, debt paid 
and some $350 to $400 left in cash. This may be and has been done." 

FLUVANNA AND THE PIEDMONT BELT. 

Report of R. E. Nelson, Esq., postoffice Columbia, "showing the cost 
of lands, its product in money per acre, with a given expenditure in fer- 
tilizers, the cost of horses, oxen, sheep, hogs, poultry, as also of pro- 
visions and labor, leaving to the immigrant the decision of the question 
as to how much land ho would purchase and the quantity of provisions 
likely to be needed by him the first year, viz: land costing $10 per 
acre, with an expenditure of $12 in fertilizers, would produce in tobacco, 
per acre, $75; fallowed by wheat, with no additional manure, $25; in 
oats, with like expenditure, $20. 

One active, industrious man, by diligent attention to business, can 
cultivate 2^ acres in tobacco, 10 acres in corn, 12 in wheat and 10 in 
oats. 



71 



Cost of stock, provisions, &c. : horses, $15 to $150; sheep, $2.50 
each; hogs, sow and pigs, $20; Cows, $25 to $50; oxen for yoke, §50 
to $75; poultry, 40 cents each; corn, per bushel, $1; potatoes, per 
bushel, 75 cents to $1; subsistence per month, $4; flour, per barrel, 
$10; sugar, per pound, 12 to 15 cents; bacon, per pound, 15 to 20 
cents; coifee, per pound, 15 to 30 cents; beef, per pound, 8 cents; salt, 
$3 to $i per sack ; laborers from $3 to $10 a month, exclusive of board. 



Proforma estimate of outlay and receipts of a young married man es- 
tablishing himself in the county of Fluvanna^ State of Virginia, upon « 
farm of 40 acres with a capital of $500 in gold. 

First Year. 



OUTLAY. 

For purchase 40 acres land at $10 

per acre — first payment $133 33 

For buildings 100 00 

For purchase of a horse or mule... 100 00 
Cow and calf, $30; sheep, $12.... 42 00 

Sow and pigs 20 00 

Poultry, fruit trees and seeds 20 00 

Horse feed and food for cows 50 00 

Farming utensils 25 00 

Fertilizers 75 00 

Seed wheat, oats and corn 40 00 

Wagon and harness 75 00 

Extra labor and finding 45 00 

Groceries and provisions 100 00 

Total outlay first year $825 33 



RECEIPTS 

(After deducting for domestic use.) 

50 bushels corn at $1 $ 50 00 

150 bushels wheat at $2 300 00 

2-500 pounds tobacco at 10 cts 250 00 

Proceeds garden, dairy and poul- 
try yard 20 00 

Total receipts first year $620 00 

The man himself is supposed to labor 
industriously on his farm. 



Second Year. 



OUTLAY. 

Second payment for land... $133 33 

Extra labor 25 00 

Blacksmith's account 10 00 

Fertilizers 75 00 

Groceries (tea, sugar, &c) 50 00 

Total outlay second year .$203 33 



• RECEIPTS. 

75 bushels corn at $1 $ 75 00 

200 bushels wheat at $2 400 00 

25 bushels oats at 50 cts 12 50 

4000 pounds tobacco at 10 cts 400 00 

Garden, orchard, dairy and poul- 
try yard 40 00 

Increase live stock, &c 50 00 

Total receipts second year $917 50 



72 
Third Year. 



OUTLAY. 

Third payment on land $133 33 

Farm expenses, extra labor, ferti- 
lizers, &c 150 00 

Groceries, &c 50 00 

Total outlay third year $ 333 33 



Miscellaneous exp'ses each year... $100 00 



RECEIPTS 

(Deducting as before.) 

250 bushels wheat at $2 $ .500 00 

100 bushels corn at 81 100 00 

40 bushels oats at 50 cts 20 00 

4000 pounds tobacco 400 00 

Proceeds orchard, garden, dairy 

and poultry yard 40 00 

Increase live stock, poultry, &c.. 100 00 

Total receipts third year $1,160 00 



"The outlay for clothing, taxes, &c., has not been included in the 
estimate, and possibly an item for increased purchase of fertilizers might 
be added. 

I know one farmer, in the adjacent county of Cumberland, whose 
farm cost $7,000 before the war, who, on the labor of 8 hands, cleared 
$4,000 in one year. He is, however, the most successful farmer of my 
acquaintance. 

In the estimate given I have proceeded upon the hypothesis of full 
crops, making no allowance for casualties. It would be proper to make 
a considerable deduction on this score, and especially in view of the un- 
certainty of the wheat crop, which not unfrequently proves a disastrous 
failure. 

Upon the whole, I should think that an active, industrious man (with 
his land paid for) might clear $400 to $500 per annum by farming in 
this part of Virginia. 

It may be proper to state further, that a good deal of land is rented 
to laborers for one-fourth the crop produced on high land, and one-third 
of what is produced on low grounds. It is frequently the case, more" 
over, that farms are cultivated on shares, the landowner furnishing the 
team, with subsistence, and the laborers doing the farm work and board- 
ing themselves — the crops to be divided equally. Some landlords re- 
quire one-fourth of the crop for rent, the remainder to be divided 
equally. I think that this working on shares is perhaps better for the 
beginner, with small capital, than for him to purchase land. I know 
3 young men who cleared, the past year, $400 or $500 each by working 
a farm on shares." 

Report and estimate of Jno. R. Bryan, of Carysbrook P. 0., near 
Columbia, Fluvanna county: 

" I have to-day been examining the papers you sent me. The plan 



73 

proposed for a settler on a Botetourt farm I do not like, and, indeed, 
consider it entirely impracticable. 

I have written to-day some estimates and remarks applicable particu- 
larly to this county, but which would suit, or apply to most of the Pied- 
mont country. 

You will find that I show that a settler must begin operations in either 
fall, winter or spring; if in the fall, it becomes possible to sow wheat 
and get a crop next year ; if in the winter or spring, he must confine 
himself to what are called hoe crops and oats. Now, a monstrous amount 
of credit is given to the settler for his first year's results, such as no one 
could realize, and the expenditures run up to ^dbd currency. We want 
population sadly, but they must thrive to a certain degree to enable 
them to live at all amongst us. When they bring only small sums with 
them, they must spend nearly all in settling themselves and living the 
first year, and would do well to make a start in an independent way the 
second year. 

This State is very poor, and I fear must keep so for a long time. 
One with money can make very profitable use of it in farming, but the 
poor man who buys poor land to improve, has a rough road to travel, 
as, indeed, the poor have everywhere. 

Estimates and reflections on expenses and profits incident to purchase 
and management of small farms in the Piedmont Belt. 

"Here are found lands of every variety of soil and capacity of produc- 
tiveness, ranging from the richest alluvial bottoms often skirted by heavy 
productive clay soils, to the poorer ridges between the rivers. Fine 
clay loams are extensively difi"used throughout the whole Piedmont range 
of country. Belts of granitic soils cross the State, affording warm, dry 
and productive lands peculiarly well adapted to the growth of small 
grains, corn and tobacco. Such lands are found in Spottsylvania, Caro- 
line, Louisa, Fluvanna, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Charlotte, &c. 
They respond readily to the action of all fertilizers, are easily cultivated, 
and peculiarly suited to the growth of tobacco, besides being admirably 
adapted to the growth of fruit trees and for gardening. Slate and grav- 
elly soil are found in their appropriate geological lines. 

In a territory as sparsely populated as Virginia, and where the neces- 
sities of the times incline so many to sell land, there is hardly a neigh- 
borhood where land cannot be bought, and that at really low rates. 
While the higher class of lands are still prized, and held at respectable 
figures, large districts, once productive, are to be had very low, say from 
$5 to $10 per acre for lands once held at from SIO to $20 per acre. 
Still lower grades can be had at from $3 to $6 per acre. The purchaser 
of small tracts must not expect buildings. 



74 

In Fluvanna county, building material is very abundant, consisting 
of excellent pine and oak. Much of this county is yet in the forest 
state. Having James river on the south, with the Rivanna running 
through it, the James River and Kanawa Canal, with lock and dam nav- 
igation on the Rivanna, there is abundant means of transportation, and 
water power far beyond the present wants of the people. Many small 
streams running into both rivers afford creek flats and a better class 
of highland, together with unlimited milling facilities. 

The climate is perfect as to health. 

The finest grain belt known to this country includes the lower part of 
this county, and immediately above lies the fine slate, a continuation of 
which affords the unrivalled quarries in Buckingham county, immediately 
across James river. 

The people of Fluvanna are eminently sober and industrious. Churches 
and schools are common in every neighborhood where population per- 
mits. 

The results of agriculture have been such as have enabled numbers of 
small farmers to live in comfort, and in many cases to amass considera- 
ble property, chiefly from the growth of tobacco, which is well adapted 
to this soil and climate. 

It is not just to a new settler to promise him more than industrious 
natives have been able to accomplish. To buy land even partly on credit, 
and stock a farm, however small, takes a good deal of money. The first 
year cannot properly be counted on as productive, and affording any 
surplus for paying for land. Coming into possession in the winter or 
spring, he can only make corn the first year, while he has to buy corn 
and provisions for his family and team. 

Estimates of expenses first year for man and wife, industrious and so- 
ber, with a capital of $500 in gold. 

Subsistence or rations for himself and wife may be put 

at low rate % 85.00 

Feed for horse 50.00 

Plainest outfit for house, cooking utensils, plow, har- 
row, hoes, &c r. 60.00 

One horse $100, cow and calf $30, sow $8 138.00 

Yoke of oxen and cart (not always required) 100.00 

Building expenses 100.00 

Total outlay $533.00 

The emigrant with only $500 in gold should be given long credit and 
no cash payment required, beyond a fifth of the purchase money, as his 
improvements afford good security. If he is a mechanic, he can get wa- 
ges part of his time. A rapid development of productive power in the 



75 

land, and increase in number of livestock from the facility this county 
affords, gives a certainty of progress to the intelligent and industrious 
settler. Pure air and water and a kind soil invite the laborer to prac- 
tise industry and self denial, for a time, with the certainty of being richly 
repaid in the end. 

J. R. Bryan." 

Reports and Estimates of Gary C. Cocke, Esq., Bremo, Fluvanna 
county. 

"The county of Fluvanna, one of the central counties of the State, is 
20 to 40 miles east of the Blue Ridge, and 50 to 70 west from Richmond, 
on the north bank of the James river. The James River and Kanawha 
Canal, navigable for boats of 80 tons burden, runs along its southern bor- 
der. The Rivanna river, a tributary of the James, divides the county from 
southeast to northwest, and is navigable for boats of 50 tons burden, 
by a canal, for six miles along its north banks and thence by locks and 
dams through the county into Albemarle, 

The facilities to market are easy, and the water power afforded by 
two rivers and their large creeks offer important and valuable mill sites 
for machinery and manufactures. 

Climate? Mild, temperate and perfectly healthy. Cold enough 
usually in winter to give the pulverizing benefit of frost to the plowed 
surface. Cattle and sheep do well all the winter under open sheds, and 
thrive in their pastures without additional feed till the middle of Novem- 
ber, from Avhich time they must be fed till the first day of April. The 
face of the country is generally undulating, abounding in the best free- 
stone water in every part. 

Soil ? In the eastern part of the county, light, friable, grey soil in- 
termingled with clay, slate and sand, underlaid generally with granite. 
The western portion is a heavier, closer clay soil mixed with slate and 
quartz rock. The uplands are fine farming lands, capable of a high de- 
gree of improvement, and give increased products by the growth of clo- 
ver and the use of plaster. The eastern portion is especially suited to 
the growth of fruit, vines, vegetables and garden culture. 

Productions ? The forest growth is oak, pine, hickory, poplar, and 
walnut. Crops usually grown are corn, wheat, oats, clover, fruits of all 
kinds, and all vegetables flourish well. The vine grows everywhere in 
the forest, and might be made very profitable under culture. The lands, 
under our indifferent farming system, produce from 10 to 35_bushels of 



76 

corn per acre; from 7 to 20 bushels of wheat ; 200 to 600 pounds of to- 
bacco ; 10 to 30 bushels of oats ; 30 to 250 bushels of Irish potatoes, ac- 
cording as they are farmed, and under a better system, would advance 
in production over these rates. 

Market Value of Products ? For the last three years corn, in this 
section, lias been worth, from November to February, 75 to 80 cents the 
bushel, and after February $1 per bushel cash ; wheat in same period 
$1.80 to $2.50 per bushel, according to quality ; tobacco from $9 to $10 
per hundred pounds ; oats 50 to 80 cents per bushel ; sbeaf oats 60 cents 
to ^1 per hundred pounds ; clover hay the same; Irish potatoes 70 cents to 
$1 per bushel ; bacon 16 to 25 cents per pound ; beef 6 to 10 cents per 
pound ; fruit trees, 16 to 25 cents, according to quantity ordered. 

The best time for a settler to come to this section would be late in Oc- 
tober or November, after crops' are secured. The time for planting corn 
is from April 1st to middle of May. Tobacco is planted from 20th of 
May to last of June. Wheat should be seeded from 20th of September 
to 20th of October Corn is matured and ready for gathering usually the 
last week in September. Wheat and oats harvest first to middle of June. 
Tobacco is ready for cutting from last week in August to the first of 
October. 

Cases of Successful Industry ? I have a neighbor [W. L. A.] living 
2 miles from the .James river, on a clay slate section of the county, who, 
on a surface of 55 acres [part of a farm of less than 200 acres, for which 
he paid $7| per acre before the war] realized the following results in 
1867: 



18G7, Crops and receipts from 55 acres. 

20 acres in wheat produced 319 

bushels, at S2.50 $ 797.50 

4 acres in toliacco (very small 

crop) 3000 lbs 360.00 

20 acres corn 80 barrels or 400 

bushels worth 400.00 

5 acres oats worth 37.50 

*r)00 pounds bacon sold 98.00 

*PouUry and dairy products 35.00 

Receipts $1,728.00 

Outlay 1,040.50 

Profit $ 688.50 



Expenses for same year. 

Fertilizers, 4 tons $ 280.00 

27 bushels seed wheat 67.50 

Labor during the year 250.00 

Cost of cultivation and use of im- 
plements 4.0.00 

Smith work 3.00 

Forage for 2 horses and use of 

same ■ 220.00 

Expenses and provisions for fam- 
ily 175.00 

$1,040.50 



I have another neighbor [S. W. P.] living in the eastern portion of 



* Not to credit of 55 acres. 



77 

the county, who, on grey granite soil, upland, for which he paid ^8|- per 
acre before the war, made on a surface of said farm (some 200 acres in 
all) of 80 acres in cultivation in 1867 the following results : 

1867. Crops and receipts from 80 acres. Outlay for same year. 



40 acres in wheat, 500 bushels 

brought $1,250.00 

20 acres in corn, 350 bushels 

worth 350 00 

15 acres oats, 180 bushels at 60 

cents 108.00 

6 acres tobacco, 4.000 pounds at 

$9 '. 360.00 

* Bacon sold brought .500.00 

*i)airy and garden products 50 00 

$2,618.00 
1,470.00 

Profit $1,148.00 



Hire and subsistence of 3 hands 

per year $ 3o0.00 

Feed and hire of team 230.00 

Smith's work and use of imple- 
ments 65.00 

4 tons fertilizer.- 300.00 

Extra labor in cultivation and 

harvest 50.00 

Seed wheat, 50 bushels, at S2.50 12').00 
Expenses of family, clothing, 

taxes, &c 350.00 

$1,470.00 



The river bottom lands are very productive, but comparatively of 
small extent, and rarely in market. When sold, they usually com- 
mand $100 per acre. 

The uplands are good, and, in most parts of the county, very desirable 
farming lands, as well on account of their real, but yet undeveloped 
value, as for their convenience to market, the pure water, healthy climate, 
having churches and postoffices in every neighborhood and good schools. 
These lands possess an additional value on account of their mineral 
wealth, having large beds of slate, several valuable veins of iron and of 
gold, which last, especially, have been worked with profit. 

Price of Land? At present there is no average price that can be 
named as reliable. Before the war, the farming lands of the county 
could be bought for from $5 (when in forest) to $18 and $20 per acre, 
according to quality, and excellent lands can now be bought for from $5 
to $12 and $1-1 per acre, and less for cash." 

Proforma estimate of an outlay and receipts of a young married man es- 
tablisJiing himself in the county of Fluvanna, State of Virginia, upon a 
farm of forty acres, with a capital o/$500 in gold, by Dr. Cary C. Cocke, 
of Bremo. 

* Not to credit of the 80 acres. 



78 



FiKST Year. 



OUTLAY. 

First payment on land, forty acres, 

at Sl:^ per acre $160 00 

Buildings 100 00 

Purchase of horse or mule 120 00 

Cow and calf, $25 : sheep, $8...... 33 00 

Sow and pigs, $8; poultry, fruit 

trees and seeds, $18 26 00 

Purchase single plow 5 00 

Harrow, $10; double plow, $7.... 17 00 

Purchase wagon and harness 100 00 

Half bushel clover seed, $5 ; eight 

bushels seed oats, $4 9 00 

20 bushels seed wheat, for 16 

acres, at $2 a bushel 40 00 

36 bushels corn for horse for six 
months, and hay and fodder for 

same 55 00 

Hoes and farming implements 23 00 

Planting and cultivating 12 acres 
of corn, 16 wheat, 8 oats, pota- 
toes, vegetables and tobacco, in- 
cluding extra labor when neces- 
sary 40 00 

1 ton fertilizers 75 00 

Groceries and provisions 80 00 

Total outlay first year $^86 00 



(After deducting for family use.) 

120 bushels corn at 80 cts $ 96 00 

130 bushels wheat at $2 260 00 

50 bushels oats at 60 cents 30 00 

600 pounds of tobacco at $10 60 00 

100 pounds bacon at 15 cts 15 00 

16 pounds wool at 30 cts 4 80 

Products garden, dairy and poul- 
try yard 20 00 

Total receipts first year $485 80 



Second Year. 



OUTLAY. 

Second payment on land $160 00 

Cultivating 8 acres corn, 24 wheat, 
8 oats and 2 tobacco, including 

fertilizers 190 00 

1 bushel clover seed 10 00 

Groceries (sugar, tea, coffee. &c).. 25 00 
One year's interest on second pay- 
ment for land 9 00 


nECEIPT3 

(Deducting as before.) 
80 bushels corn at 80 cts 


..$ 64 00 


160 bushels wheat at $2 


.. 320 00 


50 bushels oats at 60 cts.. 

1400 pounds tobacco ai $10 

24 pounds wool at 30 cts 


.. 30 00 

.. 140 00 

7 20 


500 pounds bacon at 16s cts 

Orchard, daiiy, garden and poul 

try yard. 

Increase of stock and poultry.... 

Total receipts second year... 


83 33J 


Total outlay secoiul year $394 00 


85 00 
20 00 

$699 53J 



79 
Third Year. 



OUTLAY. 

Third payment on land ..$160 00 

Farm expenses, extra labor, ferti- 
lizers, &c 200 00 

Groceries (tea, sugar, coffee, &c).. 25 00 

Half bushel clover seed 15 00 

Second year's interest on third 

payment for land. 19 20 

Total outlay third year $4! 9 20 



RECEIPTS. 

(Deducting as before.) 

175 bushels wheat at $2 $350 00 

100 bushels corn at 80 cts 80 00 

75 bushels oats at GO cts 45 00 

2500 pounds tobacco at $10 250 00 

30 pounds wool at -"30 cts 9 00 

600 pounds bacon at 1C§ cts 100 00 

Orchard, dairy, garden and poul- 
try yard 40 00 

Increase live stock and poultry..., 30 00 

Total receipts third year $904 00 



HANOVER COUNTY. 

Report and estimate of Theodore S. Garnett, Esq., Junction postoffice, 
Hanover county. 

" My estimate is only approximate of course, and the gradual increase 
from first to third year inclusive, is based upon what is called high farm- 
ing, a liberal use of fertilizers, and no land can stand constant cultiva- 
tion without it. Indeed, ray opinion is, that the young married man 
should purchase 80 acres instead of 40 to realize the profits indicated by 
my estimates. His capital invested in land would then be the same or 
nearly the same as shown in the 'Botetourt Estimate,' and the estimate 
would then exhibit $214 on the debit side each year for the three years. 
The additional 40 acres should have 15 or 20 acres of timber on it for 
wood and fencing, and the residue, 20 or 25 acres, cleared land in addi- 
tion to the 40 acres of cleared land in the original ' farm ' would enable 
the cultivator to vary his crops, and rest part of his lai.d each year. 

Your circular embraces a wide field of inquiry, and to answer each 
question in detail wo«.ld occupy much space and time. The inclosed es- 
timate, however, shows the prices I have thought best to fix upon the 
land, buildings, tools, stock, &c., as an average, as also the leading crops 
I would recommend. For mere general information applicable to this 
place and vicinity, and placed in the crder shown by your circular, I 
will state, 

Fh'st — The climate and ivater of this vicinity will compare favorably 
with any portion of Eastern Virginia, near the head of Tidewater. 

Second — The soil of the river bottom is very rich, but subject to over- 
flow ; the next lerel, onlj? 7 or 8 feet above high water, is a sandy loam, 
yielding, without fertilizers, 3|- to 4 barrels of corn, and 6 to 8 bushels 



(80 

of wheat to the acre, but taking improvers very kindly, so that in six 
years I have brought some of that lan<l up to 5^ barrels of coin, and 10 
to 12 buohels of wheat per acre. The table-land, when uncleared, is 
covered with oak, pine, hickory, and dogwood, requiring an expense of 
from $.> to $7 per acre to clear it, and is generally too wet to be culti- 
vated without a heavy outlay for ditching, which would add from $2 to 
$3 per acre, to the expense of putting it in good arable condition. 

2'hi)'d — The lands sell now for $8 for the worst and $16 for the best, 
in currency, so I have put the average at $8 in gold. I am near the 
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, and the Chesapeake and Ohio 
railways, 24 miles north of Richmond and 38 south of Fredericksburg. 
The postoffice is one mile from me, at Hanover Junction. The court- 
house is 8 miles south of me. Ashland 8 miles south. The Baptist 
church, at Taylorsville, Ih miles south, and the Fork church (Episcopal), 
6i miles west of me. The Hanover Academy (an excellent classical 
school), is 5| miles west of Hanover Junction and the Methodist College 
at Ashland. 

Fourth — Fruit and market gardening may be rendered profitable here, 
but it has not been done yet ; our people not having adapted themselve3 
to the altered condition of the farming interest, requiring as it now does, 
a total change ii the mode of cultivation, and of the articles to be culti- 
vated for profit. 

Fifth — Those who pay their hands regularly find no difficulty in hiring 
freedmen at .^8 a month and their food — 1 J peck of meal and 3 pounds 
bacon per week, amounts to about ^50 per annum ; so that the whole 
cost of a good laborer is about $150 per annum, and those I hire work 
for me as well as they did when they were slaves. 

iSixth — The best time for a man to come here is the first of October. 
We seed wheat from the 1st to the 20th of October, and plant corn from 
April 10th to May 1st. The smaller crops — potatoes, 20th of May to 
1st of June for the late crop, 15th of March for the early. Ruta-bagas, 
lOch July- Peanuts, 15th April. 

Seventh — I will take pleasure in showing any respectable foreigner 
about the country, and he can stay with me free of cost while he is 
* prospecting.' 

Proforma estimate of outlay and receipts of a young married man, es- 
tablishing himself in the county of Hanover^ State of Virginia, upon a 
farm of forty acres, with a capital of $500 in gold. 

Theodore S. Garnett, 
Cedar Hill Junction Postoffice, Hanover county, Va. 



81 



First Year. 



For first payment on forty acres 

at$8peracre $ 107 00 

Buildings 250 00 

Two horses or mules 250 00 

Cow & calf, $35; 5 sheep, $20.. 55 00 

Sow & pigs. $17; 10 poultry, $5, 22 00 

Fruit trees and small seeds 15 00 

Double plow $10; single plow $6. 16 00 

Harrow, hoes, spades, forks, &c. 17 00 

Horse-cart and harness 40 00 

20 bush, wheat (to sow 20 acres).. 40 00 
Five bushels oats, (jO cents ; 10 

bushels corn, $1 13 00 

10 bushels Irish potatoes, $1.... 10 00 
Feed two horses, $140; house- 
hold & kitchen furniture, $150.. 290 00 
Planting and cultivating 10 acres 
corn, 20 wheat, 10 oats, pota- 
toes and vegetables, including 

extra labor 200 00 

Two tons fertilizers, $120; gro- 
ceries and provisions, $100 210 00 

Total outlay first year $1,54 5 00 



(After deducting for family use.) 

115 bushels corn at $1 $115 00 

150 bushels wheat at $2 300 00 

25 bushels oats at GO cts 15 00 

400 bushels Irish potatoes at $1.... 400 00 

400 bushels ruta-baga at 25 cts 100 00 

Proceeds garden, dairy and poul- 
try yard 25 00 

Total receipts first year $955 00 



Second Year. 



Second payment on land ...$107 00 

Cultivating 5 acres corn, $7.50 37 50 

" 25 " wheat and oats.. 25 00 
" potatoes, $50; ruta-bagas, 

$20 70 00 

Cultivating peanuts CO 00 

Extra labor 40 00 

Four tons fertilizers 240 00 

Groceries (tea, sugar and coffee)... 50 00 

Total outlay second y«ar $729_50 



RECEIPTS 

(Deducting as before.) 

500 bushels potatoes, $1 $ 500 00 

400 " ruta-baga at 25 cts... 100 00 

150 " wheat at $2 800 00 

25 " oats at 60 cts 15 00 

150 " peanuts at $2 25 337 50 

20 pounds wool at 30 cts.. 6 00 

Orchard, garden, dairy and poul- 
try yard 40 00 

Increase live stock and poultry.. 50 00 

Total receipts second year. ..$1,348 60 



82 
Third Year. 



OUTLAY. 

Third payment on land $106 00 

Farm expenses, extra labor and 

fertilizers 650 00 

Groceries (tea, sugar and coffee)... 50 00 

Total outlay third year .$806 00 



RECEIPTS 

(Deducting as before.) 

200 bushels wheat at $2 $ 400 00 

500 " potatoe 500 00 

400 " ruta-bagas 100 00 

200 ♦' peanuts 450 00 

50 " oats 30 00 

30 pounds wool 9 00 

500 " baconat9cts 45 00 

Orchard, garden, dairy and poul- 
try yard 50 00 

Increase live stock and poultry.. 75 00 

Total receipts third year $1,659 00 



FAUQUIER AND LOUDOUN. 

Both of these counties lie in a grass country. There is none better. 
Indeed, the whole tier of counties that abut against the Blue Ridge on 
the east, from Patrick to Loudoun, are good grazing CQunties. Stock- 
raising in all of them is an important branch of industry, but as one ap- 
proaches Loudoun the grass appears to find soil and climate more and 
more congenial, and in none of the counties does it delight more than in 
these two. There, annually in the autumn, the farmers are in the habit 
of going out West, some to Tennessee and Kentucky, others into West 
Virginia, Ohio, and even as far as Illinois, to buy stock. They pur- 
chase their droves there and bring them into Virginia to winter in its 
delightful climates and upon green pastures for most of the time. The 
cattle require housing during the season of inclement weather, but they 
thrive so well and cost so little, that they -are sold during the following 
spring and summer often at a clear profit of 50, and sometimes even of 
100 per cent. 

This is regarded, by all who have lands and range sufiicient, a most 
lucrative business. I have heard of cattle being brought even as far aa 
from Texas to be pastured and wintered in this tier of Piedmont counties. 

The farmers of Fauquier and Loudoun have been more ready with 
their responses to my appeals for information than those from any other 
part of the State. What may be said of the people, industries and re- 
sources of either of these counties, may, with modifications too minute 
to be recognized here, be said with equal propriety of the other. The 
gentlemen to whom I am chiefly indebted for this information are Col. 
Cutshaw, of the Virginia Military Institute, and one of the assistants 



83 

on the Physical Survey. He visited these counties for the especial pur- 
pose of collecting information with regard to them. The others are old 
residents, and some of them are the most skilful farmers of the county. 
They are Major Rice W. Payne, of Warrenton; Dr. A. S. Payne of 
Linnwood ; Charles H. Gordon, Esq., Edgewood, near Bealton; Robert 
Beverley, Esq., The Plains Station; Edward C. Marshall, Esq, of 
Markham, and William S. Boswell, Esq., of Deep Run, all of Fauquier 
county; and of Loudoun, Richard H. Henderson, Esq., Leesburg; A. 
F. M. Rust, Esq., Leesburg ; Bushrod Wilson, Esq., Lovettesville ; CoL 
R. H. Dulany, of Welburne, Upperville ; B. P. Noland, Esq., Middle- 
burg ; William C. Saunders, Esq., Gorrsville ; Oliver Taylor, Esq., 
postoffice Alexandria, and Samuel Purcell, Esq., Circleville. 

The face of these two counties lying, as they do, at the foot and on 
the folds of the mountains, is rolling, but with no lack of level ground. 
They are well watered and healthy. The drainage is carried off from 
them into the Rappahannock and Potomac by numerous creeks, runs 
and branches, with fall sufficient to afford ample and excellent water 
power for the requisite mills and factories. 

The Natural Crrowth of Trees and Shrubs, Weeds, Vines and fferbs, 
Fruits and Vegetables ? There are four varieties of the white oak, i. e. : 
common white oak, swamp white oak, box oak and chestnut leaved white 
oak, the latter, however, is only found on the margin of the Potomac 
river ; black oak, Spanish oak, chestnut oak, peach or yellow oak, pine 
oak, and in the eastern part of the county black jack and dwarf oak, 
hickory, black and white walnut, poplar, chestnut, locust, sycamore, 
wild cherry, red flowering maple, gum, sassafras, persimmon, dogwood, 
red and slippery elm, black mulberry, and occasionally with the aspen, 
beech, birch, linn, honey locust, sugar maple, white mulberrry, sugar 
nut tree, yellow pine, white pine, hemlock, red cedar and ash. 

Smaller Trees and Shrubs ? The white thorn, the maple leaved or 
Virginia thorn, hawthorn, Avild May cherry, water beech, fringe tree, red 
bud, black alder, common alder, sumac, elder, laurel, witch hazel, hazel 
nut, pawpaw, chinquapin, burning bush, wine bark, button bush, honey- 
suckle, several varieties of whortleberries and wild gooseberries. 

Brambles ? Green brier, high blackberry, dewberry and raspberry 
briers. 

Vines and Creepers? The fox grape (three varieties), pigeon or rac- 
coon grape, chicken grape, a wild bitter grape, sassaparilla, yellow pa- 
rilla, poisonune or poison oak, clematis, trumpet flower and wild potatoe 
vine. 

Medicinal and other Herbs? Rattlesnake root, seneca snake root, 



84 

several varieties of mint, liverwort, redroot, May apple, butterfly weed, 
milk weed, thoroughstem trumpet weed, bleeding heart, golden rod, 
dragons blood, roses, violets, lobelia, Indian physic injiata cardinalis, 
skunk cabbage, frost weed, hoarhound, catnip, colchicum, coriander and 
rattle weed. 

Plants Injurious to the Farmer ? The first place must be assigned 
to the wild garlic, tribby weed and dog fennel (two varieties of the 
daisy), oxeye daisy, johnwort, blue thistle, common thistle, pigeon weed, 
burdock, broad and narrow leaved dock, poke weed, clott burr, three 
thorned burr, supposed to have been introduced from Spain by the ma- 
rino sheep, Jamestown weed, sorrel, and in favorable season we have a 
heavy growth of lambsquarter and rag weed. 

Fruits and Vegetables? Beans, peas, beets, broccoli, sprouts, cab- 
bage, cauliflower, red pepper, carrots, cheves, cress, horse radish, leeks, 
lettuce, melons, mustard, okra, parsnips, parsley, rhubarb, spinach, 
squash, turnips and tomatoes. 

Herbs? Balm, camomile, dillfennel, lavender, marjoram, mint, pen- 
ny royal, pursley, rue, sage, summer savory and thyme. 

Fruit, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs, ^c? Apricot, barbary, cur- 
rants, fig, filbert, hazel nut, mulberry, quince, plum, damson, pear. 

Flowers ? Lily, rose apple, myrtle, passion flower, geranium, laurel, 
ivy, honeysuckle, hawthorn, red bud, snow drop, althea, St. Johnswort, 
aleanthus, catalpa, cutpaper, lombardy poplar, coff"ee tree, box jasmine, 
hollyhock, wall flower, pink detany, crow foot, heartsease, poppy, snow 
ball, partridge pea." 

From Mr. Gordon's Report. "This is emphatically a grain growing 
country, and to state that, is to say that all of the cereals can be abun- 
dantly produced, for any land upon which you can get grass to grow 
can bo brought to the highest state of improvement. 

The soil is rather stiff" than friable ; is grey in some sections, but gen- 
erally red and rests upon a substratum of red sand stone. 

Fifteen dollars per acre would be a fair average price for the lands in 
this immediate section, while there are some improved lands that would 
readily command a much higher price. The lands that have been worn 
out or suff'ered to grow up, talce, in what we call 'old field pine,' 
which is very valuable for building purposes — for fencing and fire wood ; 
where large enough to be hewn, they make as good framing as sawed 
scantling, and will last a great while if protected from the weather. 

Owing to the occupancy of this immediate neighborhood by tlie Yan- 
kee army during the war, timber has become much scarcer than it was 
ftxracrly, still there is a sufliciency left, with proper economy. 

Some of our most practical farmers are of the opinion that where the 



85 

labor to procure wood fuel has to be hired, it is cheaper to burn coal 
where the railroad is convenient, and that the lands now in timber would, 
if cleared, be more valuable for grazing and cultivation than they are 
standing in forest. Fifty cords of wood upon forest land not pillaged 
would be a fair average per acre, which can be cut and corded for 
seventy cents a cord, making the cost of clearing an acre of original 
growth thirty-five dollars, against which you have the value of the wood, 
worth, usually, in Alexandria and Washington, from §4 to $6 per cord. 
To break up an acre of land is worth not less than $3. 

Indian corn, wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat and hay are the staple field 
crops of this section. 

Four barrels of corn (twenty bushels), I suppose, would be a fair av- 
erage yield to the acre; seven bushels of wheat, fifteen of oats, and ten 
of rye; although there are lands in this immediate section which, with 
a good season and proper cultivation, would yield sixty bushels of corn 
and from twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat. 

Corn is generally worth from $4 to $5 per barrel, and wheat from 
$2 to $2.50 the bushel (that is since the war). This is a country where 
all the wants of man may be satisfied if he will obey the divine injunc- 
tion : "By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou gain thy daily bread." 

The health of the county is unsurpassed by any portion of the State. 

Springs do not abound, but pure freestone water is easily procured by 
digging from thirty to forty feet, and often at a much less depth. 

The city of Alexandria is 47 miles distant from Bealeton station, with 
a daily mail North and South, and with two freight trains daily, afford- 
ing quick and easy transportation to and from market. 

This section abounds in the finest quarries of stone. It is raised with 
Uttle labor, and is very valuable for building and fencing. 

Stock-raising, or rather grazing, before the war, was carried on very 
largely throughout the whole county, Fauquier furnishing each year 
some 25,000 fat cattle to the Northern markets. It costs very little to 
raise horses or mules in this country ; it not being necessary to feed 
them during the winter unless there is snow upon the ground, for there 
is always a sufiiciency of grass to keep them in good condition if the 
weather is open. 

Fruit-raising of all kinds could be made profitable, and market gar- 
dens also ; the railroad putting a market at our door. 

A house, such as you describe, with two rooms, would cost from $200 
to $300. 

Saw-mills, where good pine timber can be had for building, are in close 
proximity to the railroad. 



86 

Fruit trees are easily obtained by railroad from the different nurse- 
ries North and South. Apples cost, generally, 20 cents; peach, cherry 
and pear scions are rather higher (selected fruit). 

Horses are much cheaper here than in Eastern Virginia, where the 
facilities for raising them are not so great. A good cow and calf are 
worih $35 or $40. There are churches of all Protestant denominations 
in the vicinity, and there are also good schools. 

Charles A. Gordon, 
Edgewood, near Bealeton, Fauquier county." 

FROM MR. Beverley's report. 

"I am located in the Piedmont region, on the Manassas Gap R. R., 
48 miles from Alexandria, east of the Blue Ridge and west of the Bull 
Run mountains. 

Our climate is delightful, especially in summer, perfectly healthy, free 
from all malarious diseases or fevers, also from mosquitoes and horse 
flies. The diseases we are most subject to are pleurisy and pneumonia in 
winter. Our winter rarely sets in before the Ist of December, and 
more usually the middle, and lasts until the 20th of March. Our snows, 
though frequent during that period, rarely remain on the ground more 
than a week at a time. Never have known the thermometer lower than 
4° above zero, and^usually not more than 10 days during the whole winter 
does it get as low as 10°. The highest range in the summer is about 
88°, for a short time. 

Our water is freestone, and there is plenty of it. It is almost impos- 
sible to find fifty acres of land in the county that has not a never failing 
spring on it. A large proportion of fencing in the county is of stone, 
hence timber is not highly appreciated. 

The price of land varies from $15 to $60 per acre, according to local- 
ity, size of farm, and improvements, especially the latter. There is a 
sufficiency of labor, but principally colored. Average price of men 
about $10 per month, $120 a year and board. 

Our yield of wheat per acre, on corn land, and fallowed without fer- 
tilizers, except clover and plaster, is about 12 bushels ; of corn without 
fertilizers about 40 bushels per acre ; of oats about 20 bushels per acre. 

Market value at nearest railroad station, wheat about $2 ; corn 80 
cents; oats 60 cents. Our most profitable branch of industry is graz- 
ing. Convenient to market, daily freight and passenger trains to Alex- 
andria and Baltimore. Average freight on wheat and corn to Alexan- 
dria, 9 cents per bushel. 

Churches of all Protestant denominations throughout the county — 
Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist apd Presbyterian being within 5 miles of 
me. Postoffices and schools at this point. 



87 

There are numerous instances of farmers who having 4 horses and 2 
cows to start with, have rented land, given half the product to the land- 
lord, and in 15 years have bought the farm or some other good one of 
about 400 acres. A Mr. Jacob Howdershell, 35 years ago, had but 2 
horses and a plow, no wagon, rented land, and I have seen him market- 
ing his crop, bag full at a time, on the back of his horse. He now owns 
3 farms of 300 acres each, and is worth $20,000 besides his land, and 
has raised a large family. Such instances as this are not frequent, but 
I could name a dozen more in this county. This cannot be done, how- 
ever, living, at the same time, in 'Old Virginia style.' 

The cultivation of the grape is being largely entered into in this 
county, particularly on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge mountains, 
and I am told with great success, but I have no personal knowledge of 
the prolits of it. The wild grape grows throughout the county in the 
greatest luxuriance. The apple succeeds admirably, and is being largely 
grown. The peach is short lived, being subject to the rootborer. All 
smaller fruits thrive admirably. 

The particular branch of industry that I have derived most profit and 
pleasure from is grazing, and hence I shall have most to say of that. 
Ours is essentially a pastoral county, being so thoroughly watered, so 
free from flies, our winters being so short, and the soil being so splen- 
didly adapted to the growth of all, and especially the perennial grasses. 

After wheat, we usually sow timothy and clover mixed. In four years 
the clover and timothy are eaten out by the blue grass, which likewise, 
in about five years, gives way to the green sward, the length of the life 
of which I have no knowledge, having several hundred acres that have 
not been plowed in for thirty years, and still a perfect sward, will now 
graze a 1030 pound bullock to 2 acres. The especial value of this grass 
is that it keeps green throughout the winter, and whenever the ground 
is clear of snow, stock live on it. I have, at this date, (April 9th) 225 
head of 1,000 pounds cattle, that have been gi-azing and fattening on it 
since the 10th of March, of last year's growth, and I did not commence 
to feed these cattle on long food until the 14th of December. Up to 
1861 our stock cattle were brought to us from West and Southwest 
Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio, in the 
months of September and October. They were brought here lean, win- 
tered on wheat straw, corn fodder, and hay, grazed the following spring 
and summer, and sold in August and September, and we usually made 
100 per cent, on their cost. Since the war we have not done so well at 
grazing, first, because the stock being exhausted during the war, they 
cost higher at first purchase, but principally because of the extension of 
railroads into the far West. They bring fat cattle now in the cars to 



88 

our eastern markets as cheaply as we can drive them 100 miles, whilst 
they are fed on corn that costs, to get to market, 40 cents a bushel, and 
grazed on land costing from ^2 to $10 the acre. Thus the extension of 
railroads has reduced our profits on grazing to 50 or 75 per cent, ; there- 
fore I think that in this peculiar grass country we should turn our at- 
tention especially to the dairy, being within 2 hours of Washington and 
4 of Baltimore, which markets are now supplied with butter principally 
from Pennsylvania and New York. 

I will attempt to give you on another sheet, what may be done by a 
young man and his wife on 40 acres, making the dairy a specialty, 
not being prepared to go into a cost of 40 acres, interest account, &c., 
&c., as given in your proforma account, I beg it to be remembered, how- 
ever, that I have no personal experience in the dairy business, but have 
seen it in operation both as to butter and milk and as to cheese, as a 
specialty. 

I would call your attention also to the great water power of this par- 
ticular section, there being numerous mountain streams which never fail, 
and the country is so broken that a mill site is obtainable every half 
mile on them. There are now flouring and country mills, too numerous 
to mention, though many were burnt during the war. 

But I would call especial attention to the water power at Thorofare 
Gap, through which Broad Run passes, alongside of the Manassas Gap 
R. R., 42 miles from Alexandria. This stream is good and never fail- 
ing, and the fall in it, as it passes through the Gap in the mountains, is 
104 feet in three-quarters of a mile. There are two mill buildings now 
there, one a very fine one, and they could be multipled to a young Low- 
ell. The location is as healthy as any in the world. 

The mineral formations of this section, between the Bull Run and 
Blue Ridge mountains, are various, but always running in strata north- 
east and southwest, parallel with the mountains. The Bull Run moun- 
tain is composed of a granite of a very fine texture, very hard to dress, 
but easily quarried ; it is a beautiful building stone. From the base of 
the mountain for four miles west, the stone is an epidote mixed with 
hornblende, and, at a distance of two and a half miles in this epidote re- 
gion, a vein of very rich magnetic iron ore occasionally crops out where 
the epidote stops, a gray sandstone, alternately mixed with granite, be- 
gins which extends westward for about nine miles in width. In this 
general sandstone strata about a half a mile, is a narrow vein of very 
fine marble, occasionally jutting out. It is white, variegated with blue, 
and in some places abundantly and easily quarried. All of these strata 
I have traced thirty miles northeast of this place. West of the gray 
sandstone, up to the base of the Blue Ridge mountains, comes in the 



89 

epidote again, more generally mixed ■with hornblende. Thus is composed 
the section of country between the Bull Run and Blue Ridge mountains, 
and the Rappahannock river on the south, and the Potomac on the 
north. 

Honey is a considerable crop in this section. The white clover, from 
which most honey is made, is of all other plants, I might almost say in- 
digenous to our soil. It comes up all over the open surface without be- 
ing sown. Price of honey, 25 cents a pounds. 

Fruit trees are easily obtained. The cherry succeeds here above all 
other fruits. The trees without being planted, are so numerous as to be 
almost a nuisance. 

The best time of the year for a farmer to commence operations in our 
section is the first of August. That being the time that all farms are 
rented and the harvest finished, preparations are to be made for the 
next wheat crop. Our agricultural year commences with the wheat 
crop; in most counties it commences with the corn. 

Land. — Fifty acres of good land cost §40 per acre, §2000. Usual 
terms of sale, one-third cash, balance in one, two and three years, with 
interest. Cost of cabin with "6 rooms, §100 ; cost of stable, cow-house, 
poultry yard, &c., $200 ; cost of 2 horses, §200 ; 8 cows, §250 ; 8 pigs, 
§8 ; 20 hens, §5 ; wagon, harness and plow, §120. This is about the 
necessary outlay, except cost of provisions, which will depend on the 
economy of the parties. 

5 acres of wheat, well manured from stable and cows, will give 100 bush- 
els, at §2 §200 00 

5 acres of corn, 200 bushels, necessary for home consumption. 

5 acres potatoes, 400 bushels, at 80 cents nett 320 00 

3 acres sugar-beet or mangle wurzle, 750 bushels necessary for 
cows ; 20 acres grass for 8 cows ; wheat straw, and corn 
fodder, with 750 bushels of roots, sufficient for wintering. 
Butter from 8 cows, 200 pounds per cow, at 40 cents, less 

transportation 610 00 

8 calves 80 00 

2000 pounds pork, raised on milk, 1000 for sale 80 00 

Product from poultry 48 00 

This is the nett product ; $1,338 00 

(except cost of labor) which one man can very easily accomplish. This 
estimate is made clear of freight to market. Out of it would have to be 
deducted a small blacksmith's bill and taxes and groceries, all other 
necessary supplies being deducted in the product. This would leave 15 
acres, 10 of which might be in wood and 5 in orchard, which might^also 



90 

be producing something in roots until the fruit trees come into bearing; 
then a large addition to be made to product, in apples. 

Robert Beverley, 
The Plains, Manassas Gap R. R." 

Dr. Payne, Mr. Boswell, and Mr. Marshall each furnishes an estimate 
as to the necessary outlay and probable income of a young married 
man, sober, saving and industrious, with a cash capital of §500 in gold, 
Bettling on a farm of 40 acres in Fauquier. 

According to Dr. Payne, the land costing $20 the acre in three annual 
instalments, the expenses and receipts would be: 

Doctor Payne: Expenses. Receipts. 

Firstyear $1016 66 $628 

Second year 391 m 764 

Third year 38166 894 

Mr. Boswell: 50 acres of land at $7 per acre. 

Firstyear $617 50 $496 

Second year 221 50 635 

Third year 22150 635 

Mr. Marshall: 40 acres of land at $15 the acre. 

First year $719 00 $518 

Second year 370 00 556 

Third year 370 00 706 

There are in the estimates of these gentlemen, as there are in the 
statements of others, certain apparent discrepancies which, if unex- 
plained, might lead to erroneous impressions. As an example, Mr. 
Beverley speaks of Fauquier as an excellently watered country, abound- 
ing in mill sites, while according to Mr. Gordon, springs are rare and 
wells common ; and so throughout this Report, with like apparent dis- 
crepancies, all which disappear the moment the stranger is reminded 
that though these gentlemen are all of the same county, they live in 
different parts of it, and generally each is speaking of his own neighbor- 
hood only. 

LOUDOUN. 

The reporters are: Col. Richard Dulany, of Welbourne, Upperville; 
F.M. Henderson, Esq'r, Commissioner in Chancery, Leesburg; B. P. No- 
land, Esquire, Middleburg; W. C. Saunders, Esquire, Goreville; A. F. 
M. Rust, Esquire, Leesburg; Oliver Taylor, Esquire, Alexandria; Sam- 
uel Parsel, Esquire, Circleville, and Bushrod Wilson, Esquire, Lovetts- 
ville. 

What has been said of the face of the country, water, health, climate, 



91 

natural growth, industries and productions of Fauquier may, with only 
such modifications as difference of latitude and inspection of the map 
would suggest, be said with equal propriety of Loudoun. 

Col. R. H. Dulany, of Welbourne, Upperville, says: "Our lands are 
held in large tracts and the prices are high. Our nearness to market in- 
creases the prices of all live stock. 

Our county (Loudoun) contains 250 square miles. About one-third of 
this area is east of Little river, and is very poor, selling from ^5 to SIO 
per acre, and being cold, flat land, is hard to improve without thorough 
drainage, which would cost not less than §25 per acre. 

The remaining portion, lying between the Blue Ridge mountains and 
Little river, is one of the most beautiful and fertile parts of our State — 
the lands ranging in price from $30 to $80 per acre, according to fer- 
tility, buildings, &c. As our land is heavy from the large proportion of 
clay, three horses are required to plow it, which would be too heavy an 
expense for a farm so small as 40 acres. 

If we are to have immigrants as farmers, and not as mere laborers, 
I would give them the same advice that I have given to my former 
slaves. Let three men club together and rent a house, either on a farm 
or in a village. This would cost, with garden, firewood, and pasture 
for one cow, $100. Then let each of them purchase a good young horse, 
the three costing $400. They would then be prepared to fallow with a 
three-horse plow from 50 to 60 acres for corn. After the corn, the land 
can be sown in wheat. It will require about 100 days to make and 
secure these crops, leaving 200 days, the larger portion of which time 
the men could earn 50 cents a day and their board. 

I have with me a German gardener, to whom I pay $250 a year, 
besides his board. He has now due to him, from two year's labor, $100, 
which he intends, in the spring, to invest in grape vines. I am to fur- 
nish him with 20 acres of land, worth $G0 per acre; to plow it three 
times a year; to furnish him with a house, firewood, and a cow and cow- 
pasture. As the vines will require but little attention, with the excep- 
tion of the plowing, he is to continue working in my garden for two 
years longer, which will give him $100 to start with, when his wages 
cease (as he only spends $50 a year). At the end of two years the 
vines planted on the first 4 acres will be allowed to bear fruit fhe plants 
No. 1 two-year old vine), from which time he takes charge of the vine- 
yard, and from the first four acres planted he will plant^he rest of the 
20 acres, and will pay to me one-half the gross profits from the sale of 
the grapes and vines. This man is a grape grower by profession, and 
came to this country for the purpose of starting a vineyard. lie says 
that he will plant the first four acres at a cost of §100 an acre. As he 



92 

plants 2240 vines, each of which, at four years old, will bear 20 pounds, 
at the low estimate of 5 cents* per pound, his receipts must be, in gross, 
upwards of S2,000 per acre. 

Our contract lasts for 10 years, when I am to divide the vineyard, 
each of us receiving 10 acres. He estimates that his portion will then 
be worth from 8*3,000 to $10,000. 

If this man succeeds — and he proves his faith by investing all he has — 
I would make the same contract with 20 other men. 

On another sheet you will find some of your questions answered. 

If the immigrant rents for the first two years, he will have an oppor- 
tunity of learning from his own experience the value of the land, and 
whether it is best to settle on good land, near market, at a high price, or 
to go to the far West, on cheaper lands, and wait for years for a market 
to come to him." 

Col. Dulant's Estimate. 

Expenses. 

"Rent of house, garden, cowpasture, and firewood $100 00 

Yankee wagon and harness 60 00 

8 horses 400 00 

1 cow 45 00 

8-horse plow and 4 points 14 00 

1 harrow, $12; 8 l-horse plows, $14 26 00 

5 bushels seed corn -. 4 00 

Tenant's half-seed wheat, 37 bushels 74 00 

Food for 3 horses while plowing, 75 days ; 10 bushel corn and IJ tons hay... 25 00 

Horse feed while seeding wheat, 7 days 4 47 

Rations, 3 men 1 year ; 800 pounds pork, $72 ; 4 barrels flour, $40 112 00 

Pasture for horses when not plowing, 9 months 50 00 

Coffee and sugar 36 00 

Total expenses §974 47 

Receipts. 

Half corn of 50 A— 6 barrels to A ; 150 barrels at $3 per barrel $ 450 00 

Half of the fodder 37 00 

Half of the wheat, 10 bushels to A at $2 500 00 

The straw will pay for threshing 

200 day's wages at 50 cents each ; 300 00 

Allowance for board, 25 cents each 150 00 

Three horses, less 10 per cent, of cost 360 00 

Seventy-two dollars worth farming implements, less 20 per cent, of cost 57 00 

Cow and calf. 50 00 



Total receipts $1,904 00 

Showing a profit of $903.57. The hire of the horses, when not used, 
in making a crop, ought to more than pay blacksmith's bills, &c.' 
*UBual price 10 cents. — M. 



93 

If immigrants should prefer grape-growing to farming, we have moun- 
tain lands for grapes, which can be purchased at from $8 to $20 per acre. 
If one-third is paid down, two, three and four year's time could be had 
for the other payments.* All our lands are well watered, both moun- 
tain and lowlands, and although I have between seventy-five and a hun- 
dred persons on my land, our doctor's bills for the past three years have 
not, been §25 a year." 



F. M. Henderson, Msq., ofLeesburg, says: " Leesburg, with a popu- 

rion of 1800, is the county seat of Loudoun. 
White labor is sober, honest and industrious, and meets full rewards. 

The Staple Crops are corn, wheat, oats, some rye, some buckwheat, a 
little barley, much hay. 

Yield of Wheat? Per acre 10 to 35 bushels ; average, 12. Corn, 25 
to 63; some small lots produce 70 to 75 bushels the acre. Oats, 25 to 
40 bushels per acre. Hay, 2,000 pounds, sometimes 4,000 pounds. 

Price of Land? $15 to $100 — best not for sale. 

Price of Labor? |12.o0 to $15 per month with board, without board 
$1 to $1.26 per day ; with boai-d 75 cents to 90 cents per day. Women 
$6 to $12 per month ; with board say $7.50. 

Markets, Schools and Churches ? Baltimore 80 miles ; Washington, 
Alexandria and Georgetown under 60 miles and down to 22. Abundant 
churches. No Roman Catholic Church. Many schools. 

Mines ? A copper mine has been worked, and negotiations are pend- 
ing for its sale. 

Successful Cases of Profitable Industry ? Godfrey Schellhom, of Saxe- 
Coberg, came to this county in 1851 with his wife, and a flour barrel for 
a trunk — he had nothing. He and she were stirring, industrious people 
and lived scantily. He now owns a house worth $1,200, a farm of 94 
acres that cost $2,812, on this he owes $1,000. He is a pretty good 
stone-mason; has planted some. grape vines which are bearing. 

J. N. started with trade of carpenter. He now, at 58 years of acre, 
owns $15,000 worth of houses and lots, also a steam saw and planing 
mill, and with his sons is building largely for himself and others. He 
will, probably, in ten years, reach $50,000. The war crippled his means 
much, but he is now sailing before the wind. 

*Mr. J. S. Green, of Amissville, Rappahannock county, find Baldwin's the best 
market variety of apples. He has siift'orcd but little loss from insects, except bees 
and wasps. His vineyard, principally Catawta, yields 200 to 300 gallons of wine 
per acre. 

Mr. James Newman, of Gordonsville, Orange county, has 200 bearing apple trees, 
averaijing 12 bushels each, or 300 bushels per acre, with 25 to 30 cents the l>ushel at 
the orchard. 

Report United States Commissioner of Agriculture for 1871, p. 147. 

[R. L. M.J 



94 

Stone-masons get $2.50 a day; carpenters from $1.50 to $2.50. 

J. T. G., plasterer, is 25 years old. Started with his tools of trade. 
Has invested his savings in real estate, buying and selling at an advance; 
is now worth $2,500. 

J. H. started with nothing ; was harrassed by constables ; worked 
by the day ; had friends ; learned the trade of a butcher ; bought a 
farm ; sold it for double what he gave ; bought real estate in town ; sold 
it at an advance ; sharp fellow ; is now worth $15,000 or more. Is 48 
years old and has four children. 

Airs. M. A. B. lost her husband in 1858, whom she had supported by 
the profits of an oyster and cake shop. Continued her business ; is com- 
fortable now, having probably $3,000 and an excellent business. 

There are, of course, failures to match these. 

Again, J. M. W. came from Pennsylvania, a tailor's apprentice, in 
1827 ; married here ; has raised seven children ; has become a merchant 
and is worth $15,000 or probably $20,000." 

B. P. Noland, Esq., of Middlesex, says : " My homo is in Middleburg, 
near the line of Fauquier and Loudoun, and what I call ' my section ' is 
the country lying between the Blue Ridge and Bull Run mountain, and 
extending from Aldie to Upper ville, a section of some fifteen miles in di- 
ameter. 

This is, I think, the most beautiful and fertile portion of the State, 
and of it I speak in answer to your circular. 

Our Climate is rather more genial than that of other sections of the 
same latitude (39° N), as we are on the eastern and southern slope of 
the Blue Ridge, and somewhat protected by it. 

The Soil has a good deal of sand in it, though it by no means predom- 
inates ; is fertile and produces fine crops of grain, and the finest grass I 
have ever seen, except about Lexington, Kentucky. 

The average crops of corn might perhaps be stated at 7 barrels or 35 
bushels, although 10 and 12 barrels per acre are not unusual crops. 

Of Wheats 15 bushels per acre, though 25 and oO bushels are not un- 
usual, and I have known 37|- bushels per acre, raised from a field of 40 
acres. 

Blue grass is indigenous here. If a wheat field is left fallow, it will 
sod in blue grass in two years. 

Our farraei'S combine grain growing with grazing and raising stosk. 

The water of the springs is soft. That of the wells is generally hard. 
It is rare to find a farm here which has not running water in every field. 

The price of land varies from $30 to $00 per acre. 

Labor is $12 to $15 per month. 

Our Markets are Baltimore, Georgetown, and Alexandria, via the 



95 

Orange, Alexandria, and Manassas railroad, at The Plains Station, which 
is 8 miles from Middleburg ; or the Loudoun and Hampshire railway, at 
Leesburg, 15 miles off. A turnpike to The Plains and one to Leesburg 
will soon be under contract. 

We have Churches here for the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, 
and Episcopalians, with good congregations. We have the Loudoun school 
for boys, and Dr. Hayes' seminary for girls, both in flourishing condi- 
tion, and first-class schools. 

As a practical proof of what a man can do, I mention a case of a 
young man in this neighborhood, who, when the war closed, had not a 
dollar — who rented a good grass farm of 240 acres. He has lyowed an- 
nually about 60 acres, cultivated about 60 in corn, and about 30 in 
wheat. He has fed his corn and hay to cattle bought in the Fall, to be 
sold in following May or June. He has also bought other cattle for 
which he rented pasture, and bought fodder and straw for Winter feeding. 
This man told me some ten days ago, in the course of a business conver- 
sation I had with him, that he had made, since the war, $12,000 [five 
years], exactly as I have stated above. 

Another illustration of the profits of judicious farming in this section: 
Five farms, of which I have the management, belonging to one estate, 
had been rented for 15 years upon the same terms, viz: one-half of all 
the grain and grazing; the landlord furnishing the grass seed and plas- 
ter, and three-fifths of the guano. 

At the outbreak of the war, there had been, during this period, seven 
tenants, of whom five had made money enough to buy farms of their own, 
and the others could have done as well, but one, because of drunkenness, 
and the other was naturally a thriftless fellow. 

Any man with industry and economy and good judgment, can make 
money by farming in this section. I could name a dozen of our largest 
land-owners and most prosperous men, who, within the past 20 years, 
were tenants, without a foot of land of their own, who by their industry 
and skill have reared and educated well their children, and amassed what 
in the country is considered a fortune. 

Our leases terminate here on the 1st of January. Farms then gener- 
ally change hands. 

The time for seeding is from September 15th to November Ist. 
Harvest is about the last of June, and our corn is cut ofl" about the 1st 
of October." 

From the report of Oliver Taylor, Esq., of Alexandria : 
"The farmers have been the most successful since the war, as they 
have had two heavy wheat crops, and a full average of corn, whilst the 



96 

price of both has brought them so much money that they have been en- 
abled to rebuild their barns, burnt during the war, and generally to sup- 
ply themselves with horses at a high price. 

Potatoes do well in the high-lands, but do not make &a many bushels 
to the acre as on some other soils. 

Fruits of various kinds bring heavy returns when well attended to. 
Apples, in the north and western parts of the country, make fine crops, 
and peaches also do well all over the valley." 

Samuel Par sel^ Esq., of CircleviUe, says: "Mine is an agricultural 
district, and may be said to be densely populated ; the farms not aver- 
aging more than 160 to 170 acres each. The inhabitants are industri- 
ous, economical, working people, very few idlers, and the result is, as 
might be expected, a highly improved country, both in regard to build- 
ings, and the condition of the farms. The topography of the country is, 
mostly, gently undulating, sometimes hilly along the small streams, but 
not too steep for cultivation. There are a sufficient number of physi- 
cians, merchants and mechanics, for the convenience of the community. 

Price of Land? Ranges from $50 to $125 per acre, according to 
quality, improvements and locality. 

Price of Labor ? From $100 to $200 per annum, according to quality 
of the hand." 

BusJirod Wilson, Esq., of Lovettsville, says: " Lovettsville Precinct, 
Loudoun county, Va., bounded by the Catoctin mountains on the east, 
and the Potomac river on the North, is, away from the river, gently un- 
dulating. It is well watered throughout by tributaries of the Catoctin 
creek and others, which, like the Catoctin, empty directly into the Po- 
tomac. 

Staple Crops? Wheat and corn. 

Yield of Wheat Per Acre ? 10 to 25 bushels ; corn, 50 bushels ; oats, 
about 25; hay, 2 to 3 tons." 

As, for the Tidewater belt, tables from the last census have been pre- 
pared for the Piedmont belt, showing the white and colored population 
by counties, the number of improved and unimproved acres in farms, and 
the number of acres on the average to each white person of the rural 
population. The average value of land in the Piedmont belt is $10 
against $13 the acre in the Tidewater belt. This results not so much 
from any difference as to quality, in favor of Tidewater lands, but rather 
from the improvements. The finest country seats and the most splendid 
mansions in the State are in the Tidewater belt. 



97 

Population and acreage of the counties composing the Piedmont Belt, 
showing also the average number of acres to each \Thite person of the 
rural population in 1870, and the average value of the land per acre. 

PIEDMONT BELT. . 



Counties. 



Population. 



Albemarle 

Amelia 

Amherst 

Appomattox ... 

Bedford 

Brunswick 

Buckingham ... 

Campbell 

Chesterfield. ... 

Charlotte 

Culpeper 

Cumberland... . 

Dinwiddie 

Fauquier 

Fluvanna 

Franklin ...... 

Goochland 

Greene 

Greensville 

Halifax 

Hanover -. 

Henry 

Loudoun 

Louisa 

Lunenburg 

Madison 

Mecklenburg ... 

Nelson 

Nottoway 

Orange » 

Patrick 

Pittsylvania 

Prince Edward 

Powhatan 

Spottsylvania... 
Rappahannock 

Total 



White. 



12,5-50 
3,05.5 
8,18i 
4.4]4 

14,557 
4,525 
6.660 

14,041 
9,730 
4,900 
6,058 
2,709 

13,017 

11,834 
4,778 

12,268 
3,711 
3,182 
2,155 

11,562 
7,893 
6.722 

15,238 
6,269 
4,344 
4,959 
7,162 
7,586 
2,241 
4,938 
7,836 

15,259 
4,106 
2,. 552 
7,069 
5.195 



260,259 



Black. 



14,994 
6,823 
6,704 
4,536 

10,770 
8,902 
7,711 

14,343 
8,733 
9,613 
6,169 
5,483 

17,664 
7,8.56 
5,097 
5,996 
6.601 
1,452 
4,207 

16,266 
8,562 
5, .581 
5,691 

10,063 
6,059 
3,711 

14,156 
6,312 
7,050 
5,458 
2,325 

16,084 
7,898 
6,115 
4,659 
3,066 



281,660 



Whites 

in 
Towns, 



1,674 



519 



3,472 
1,517 



1,375 

"8i744" 
901 
113 



30 
""2'90' 



351 



1,398 
698 



2,715 



Acreage, 



Impr'ed. 



25,212 



196,309 

109,009 

130,593 

109,111 

174,099 

75.337 

133,273 

144,813 

60,855 

116,802 

165,789 

77,239 

86,573 

288,546 

64,486 

109,514 

135,445 

43,585 

61,991 

183,771 

130,193 

66.559 

201,888 

122,974 

94,967 

72,312 

133,357 

105,982 

69,454 

96,754 

59,414 

239,0181 

70,912! 

69,540 

66,324 

84,131 



Unimp'd 



133,531 

88,115 

99,960 

83,457 

189,277 

198,059 

178,837 

147,207 

138,139 

139,583 

69,927 

68,995 

145,105 

117,759 

78,873 

222,876 

62,512 

38,518 

100,803 

158,908 

108,525 

111,228 

74,403 

131,113 

129,677 

92,080 

200,275 

134,301 

75,056 

76.821 

171,183 

260,703 

110,659 

70,037 

104,743 

42,700 



4135,917 4354,945 



o "^ 



Acres per j2> « 
rural white [f pn 
inh'bit'nts.'^ 



28 
64 
30 
44 
26 
61 
55 
30 
24 
63 
50 
63 
64 
40 
30 
27 
53 
26 
72 
30 
31 
26 
20 
40 
62 
34 
46 
32 
62 
38 
30 
86 
42 
51 
40 
24 



40 



$10 00 



VALLEY BELT. 

We now cross the Blue Ridge and enter the Valley, which lies be- 
tween this range and the Alleghany mountains. It is tbe Valler/ Belt 
with its great breadth at the eastern end, where it is jabout 60 miles 
broad. Its breadth is variable. The counties of Botetourt, Roanoke, 
and Craig lie in the narrowest part, where it is between 30 and 35 miles 
7 



98 

broad. It widens again thence, as you proceed to the southwest, attain- 
ing a breadth which measured across the counties of Wythe and Carroll 
reaches to between 40 and 45 miles. 

This valley has several minor ridges or dirides lying across it. 

(1.) That which separates the waters of the Shenandoah from the 
waters of the James, is in the county of Augusta. 

(2.) That which separates the waters of the James from the waters of 
the New river, and crosses the counties of Montgomery and Craig; and 

(3 ) That which sheds the drainage offwestwardly into the Holston, and 
eastwardly and southwardly into the New river. This divide lies in the 
counties of Wythe and Smyth. It is the ridge pole of the Valley with 
the height of about 300 feet above the sea level. The eastern end of 
the Valley has, like the eaves of a roof, the lowest pitch, and its eleva- 
tion above the sea level is no greater than that of the banks of the Poto- 
mac river, just above and below Harper's Ferry. Through its whole 
length it is corrugated with hills, which cut it up into numerous subordi- 
nate valleys. 

The whole of this Valley is a fine grass, wheat, grape and fruit 
country. It is rich in water power, well timbered and beautifully 
watered ; it is calcareous, and abounds with flocks and herds. Volney 
called it the "garden spot of America." 

Limestone, separated here and there by sandstone, is the prevailing 
rock formation from one end to the other. Throughout its entire length 
the brown hematites of iron are deposited with marvellous profusion, 
and in most places are level free. In the county of Pulaski, especially, 
there are, along the bluffs of New river and at the spurs of the hill, de- 
posits of this ore which, for richness and abundance, may be aptly 
compared to the iroR mountains of Missouri and Mexico. In this part 
of the Valley, and even as far ea*t as Botetourt, seams of an anthracite 
eoal crop out here and there ; they have been worked as yet only par- 
tially, and chiefly for neighborhood purposes ; but the Valley is dotted 
with iron works and charcoal furnaces which have been supplied with 
fuel from this well wooded country, and worked from time immemorial. 
They produce an iron of excellent quality and peculiar properties, 
which cause it to be much sought after both by government for its foun- 
deries and by indi\ndual3 for their shops. 

The convenience to market, first by water, and then by rail, from the 
eastern portion of the Valley, haa already made the smelting of iron ore 
an important branch of industry, especially in the counties of Jeiferson, 
Clarke, Warren and Page. 

The climates of this belt are delifihtful and salubrious. It is rich in 
■aneral springs, the waters of which possess medicinal virtues that make 



99 

them favorite places of resort for the whole South. These waters and 
the pure atmosphere render the mountains of this part of Virginia the 
sanitarium of the country. 

The difference of climate in the several counties of the Valley are such 
as are due simply to the difference in their distance from the Equator 
and their height above the sea. 

The area of this belt is, in round numbers, 12,000 square miles, equal 
to 7,680,000 acres. It is divided into 24 counties, namely : Alle- 
ghany, Augusta, Bath, Bland, Botetourt, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Floyd, 
Frederick, Giles, Grayson, Highland, Montgomery, Page, Pulaski, 
Roanoke, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Smythe,Warren, Wash- 
ington, and Wythe. 

The mountains on both sides of the Valley are covered, up to their 
very crests, with luxuriant vegetation, the tops being often of the rich- 
est soil. The chief forest growth are the oak, pine, hickory, walnut, 
ash, black and white lynn, maple, sycamore, wild cucumber, cedar, lo- 
cust, mulberry, wild cherry, gum, chestnut, beech, birch, horse chestnut, 
persimmon, willow, dogwood, ironwood, arbor-vitae, with wild grapes of 
many varieties. In the springtime the river cliffs and mountain sides 
are glorious in their array of wild flowers, such as rhododendrons, azalea 
ivy, mountain laurel, honey suckle, &c. 

It is a goodly land as the other two belts are, but naturally a better 
grass country and a richer soil, because of the calcareous ingredients ; 
it is less known, out of the State, than either of the two other belts, for 
the simple reason that up to this time it has been less in the way of travel, 
and is, therefore, not so much frequented by strangers and people from 
abroad ; its praises have not been sung loud enough to be heard much 
beyond the borders of the State. The length is about 400 miles, and 
since the war, capitalists, attracted by reports of its vast resources, have 
begun to visit it for the purpose of "prospecting." 

The iron men from Pennsylvania, with lumbermen, farmers, and 
others from vifa'ious parts of the country, who have examined this belt, 
express surprise that a region of country, so richly endowed, should be 
go little known in the border states. 

Some of them, especially the iron masters, have given an earnest of 
their high opinion by investing largely in its mineral property, and cap- 
italists of that state, as well as of Maryland, are now moving, the former 
in behalf of the Shenandoah Valley R. R., the latter in behalf of the 
Valley railroad, for both of which charters have been granted. The lat- 
ter is to run from Harper's Ferry for nearly 200 miles up the Valley to 
Salem, where it is to intersect the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio rail- 
road. Nearly half of this road is finished [to Staunton]. 



100 

From the Potomac, to where the James river crosses the Valley, the 
distance is about 160 miles. This part of the Valley is poor in coal but 
rich in iron. The ores are the brown hematite, of which there are many 
extensive deposits, particularly along the western border of the Blue 
Ridge. It is an extension of "the iron working Juniata region" of Penn- 
sylvania, which State, as rich as she is in iron, is poor as compared with 
Virginia.* 

I have conversed with some of the principal iron men of Pennsylva- 
nia. The supply of ore there is limited, and they begin to see the 
end of it. They have come .down to Virginia to look for iron ores, and 
have examined the beds and banks of this belt ; they consider them prac- 
tically inexhaustible, have made large purchases, and erected furnaces 
which are now in successful operation. 

West of the James river the extreme length of the Valley, to where it 
passes into Tennessee, is about 240 miles. It is subdivided, as before stated, 
into a number of subordinate valleys, some of which are of freestone 
These, though rich, are called, by the inhabitants of the limestone valleys 
<'poor." Thus the "Poverty Valley" of the north fork of the Holston, 
as it flows from Virginia through the counties of Washington and Scott 
into Tennessee, though named "Poverty," is described by a friend who 
has recently visited it, as the "Beautiful Valley." 

"No country," says he, "has a better soil or better climate. There 
is at this time no region which offers so great inducements to the emi- 
grant or capitalist as Washington county, particularly this ' Beautiful 
Valley,' which is watered its entire length by the north fork of Holstoa 
river, a never-failing stream of clear limestone water, abounding with 
the finest fish and wild ducks, with a large portion of as rich alluvial 
low grounds as may be found in most river bottoms. No spot in its 
palmiest seasons can boast of a more salubrious climate, and it is of that 
happy middle temperature 'where the frosts of the north bite not and 
where the pestilence of the south walketh not.' Malarial fevers are wnr 
knoivn. The water is the purest freestone, mostly from bold, never, 
failing springs gushing out from the mountain side on the north of the 
river, while just across the same stream, on the south side, are springs 
equally as bold of the purest limestone water ; also along the valley are 
to be found various kinds of those mineral waters with which Southwest 
Virginia abounds — chalybeate and sulphur, as well as the celebrated 
'■Alum Wells,' 14 miles from Abingdon, which are fast becoming well 

* Report of Gen. Hnrman, Haupt Chief Engineer, and Prof. L. P. Lesly, Geologist 
to the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Company, 1870. 

Gen. H. estimates the present annual consumption of iron, for railroads alone in 
the United States, to be more than a million tons, most of which comes from Peaxv- 
Bylvania, he Bays. 



101 

known throughout the whole country for their great medicinal proper- 
ties. The length of this valley is about 56 miles. Clinch Mountain 
rises in majestic grandeur and runs the whole length of it on the north 
and on the south are to be seen the lofty and rugged 'River Hills," 
presenting to view one of the grandest and most romantic scenes im- 
aginable. Indeed, we think that with the beautiful mountain scenery 
presented in this valley, it might with great propriety be justly termed 
the ' Switzerland of America.' 

The emigrant will here find lands cheap, and a soil which will return 
a rich remuneration for his labor. It produces finely corn, wheat, oats, 
rye — in fact, all the cereals grown in Virginia, and is well adapted to 
raising grass equal, if properly managed, to the famous grass lands of 
Montgomery, Wythe and Pulaski. In no portion of Virginia, or else- 
where, can be found a climate or soil better suited to the raising or pro- 
ducing fine fruits of all kinds. Peaches, apples, pears, plums, grapes 
and melons all yield an abundant harvest, and it is rare indeed for the 
fruit crop to fail, the Valley being protected from the cold winds by the 
mountains surrounding it on either side; and last, though by no means 
least, in point of profit to the farmer, is its adaptation to the growth and 
cultivation of fine tobacco. 

The inhabitants are, as a general thing, industrious, peaceable, sober, 
kind, honest, working people; but, with few exceptions, so far as my 
observation extends, candor compels me to state they are far, very far, 
behind the times." — Abingdon Virginian. 

As we come to this part of the Valley we approach a wilderness of 
mineral wealth and medicinal waters. The Yellow Sulphur Springs, the 
Montgomery White, the Alleghany, the New river, as well as the Alum 
Wells, the Salt Pond, a beautiful fresh water lake on a mountain in Giles 
county 4,000 feet high, are all favorite places of summer resort. Last 
summer I visited both the Yellow Sulphur Springs, and Salt Pond, and 
passed the time pleasantly. I was especially charmed with the comfort- 
able accommodations and delightful society at the "Yellow." 

In this "Poverty Valley," along the banks of the Holston, we come 
to the salt wells and plaster beds (gypsum). The water of these 
wells, 210 feet deep, is about up to the point of saturation. During the 
war they were the chief source of salt supply for the Confederacy. 

Near Saltville, and for the distance of 12 miles along the river, bor- 
ings have been made for gypsum, showing it to underlie an area of about 
12 miles long, and varying in breadth between a few score feet and a 
quarter of a mile. Though this bed has been penetrated to the depth of 
680 feet, none of the shafts have gone through the deposit. Prof. Leslie 
names 2,000 feet as the probable extreme thickness of this bed. If 



102 

that be so, each acre would furnish not less than 7,000,000 of tons. The 
cost of mining is said to be only 50 cents, 2 shillings, English, the 
ton, and when it is remembered that, at present, Nova Scotia is our chief 
source of supply for this fetilizer, and our farmers have now to pay from 
$5 to $S the ton, it may well be conceived how vast is this undeveloped 
mine of wealth. It derives additional value from the fact that these* 
with those of New York and Michigan, said to be of inferior quality, 
are the only plaster beds known this side of the Mississippi river. 

Other minerals, such as galena, zinc, barytes, carbonate of lead, and 
occasionally out-croppings of copper, are found also in this end of the 
Valley. 

Passing into the Valley of the Clinch, we approach the great bitumi- 
nous coal fields of the Appalachian range as it comes from Pennsylva- 
nia and West Virginia. From Jeffersonville to the north of Guests 
river, in Giles county, Va., is one continuous coal field. "Short streams," 
says Prof. Leslie, "from 5 to 8 miles long, flow into the Clinch from the 
north. They cut the coal beds at the water level, and through the dis- 
tance of 70 miles a railway may have as many collieries lining the way- 
side as it pleases. 

There are 13 or 14 of these streams in which collieries may be estab- 
lished, and into which branch coal roads, from a half to three miles long 
with grades from other workings of not more than thirty feet to the 
mile, may descend,* 

The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railway already passes through 
this end of the Valley for the distance of 40 miles. Going from Nor- 
folk, it is to be extended into Kentucky, where it will be in connection 
with the whole railway system of the West. It has them already through 
Tennessee, and is in the actual receipt of heavy freights, with large pas- 
senger traffic from that section. The connection and completion of the 
much talked of Shenandoah Valley Railroad will tap the celebrated mar- 
ble quarries of Tennessee, the most famous in all the land, and open up 
this fine Valley to commerce from one end to the other. 

The beautiful marbles of these quarries were hauled in wagons over 
difficult mountain roads on their way to Washington, and all strangers 
who visit the capitol there are called on to admire the Tennessee marbles 
that adorn the buildings. 

A gentleman from Pennsylvania who has prospected this Valley, and 
examined it with an eye to its agricultural capacities, compares the 
great Shenandoah Valley 130 x 35 miles ; the limestone valley of Sinking 
creek ; of Walker's creek ; Wolf's creek ; the valleys of the Holston and 
the Clinch ; the great basin of Burk's garden ; the fertile district of 

* Eaapts report, aute p. 100. 



103 

Elk garden and Castlewood ; the six parallel valleys of east Tennessee, 
between the Holston river and Clinch mountains, to the best portions of 
the counties of Cumberland, York, and Lancaster, the garden spots of 
Pennsylvania, He pronounces the soil of this part of Virginia to be 
naturally as rich as the choice places of Pennsylvania, 'while the climate 
is greatly superior.' "* 

"As compared with the localities west of the Mississippi," he goes on 
to say the difference of transportation from these regions to the seaboard 
would add 10 to 15 dollars to the ton, or from 30 to 40 cents the bushel 
to each bushel of grain at the place of production, which would represent 
the interest on $200 or $300 per acre. It is only necessary that these 
facts should be generally known to turn a strong tide of immigration to 
Virginia and Tennessee." 

By comparing the population statistics of the Valley belt with those 
of Piedmont and Tidewater, it will be perceived that the negro popula- 
tion decreases after we cross the Blue Ridge, that the percentage of 
blacks in the total population is, for the Tidewater belt, 47 ; for the 
Piedmont, 51 ; for the Valley, 16, and for the trans-Alleghany belt, 7 
in every hundred. The health of the Valley is unsurpassed here; there 
are no epidemics; inflammatory diseases, especially rheumatism, are the 
most common. 

Dr. L. N. Mayo, a practising physician in Pattonsburg, in Botetourt 
county, has kindly furnished a statement, derived from his own observa- 
tions and experience, in regard to the climate and healthfulness of that 
county. His remarks, as to climate and disease, will apply to the Valley 
generally, and from them I make a few extracts: 

"This is one of the Valley counties, and has an average elevation above 
the sea of, say 1,000 feet; the surface is broken, hilly, and some por- 
tions of it mountainous; remarkably well watered by innumerable 
springs of pure cool water, mostly limestone; good underdrainage; no 
stagnant pools or ponds. 

As the controlling element of all climates is heat and its distribution, 
and as its variableness or constancy forms the basis of all climatic differ- 
ences or distinctions, first let us see what the record of this county is in 
this particular, taking a series of fifteen years, separating these into the 
four seasons, and taking the average mean of each season for this length 
of time as a correct representation of its constant. We find we have, 
for the spring months, 56°F. ; for the summer months, 76°F. ; for the 
fall months, 61°F. ; for the winter months, 41°F. ; average for the year 
a little over 58°F. 

* Gen. Haupt. 



104 

Now, that degree of temperature, which is said to be the most conge- 
nial to the human body, ranges from 55° to 70°F. 

The temperature of the spring and fall is more even than that of the 
summer and winter. In the last two we sometimes have a few very hot 
or very cold days, seldom or never exceeding three or four consecutively^ 
»nd though our warm season is longer, reaching 145 or 150 days, than 
in the Northern and Middle States, it has not so depressing an influ- 
ence. Coup de soleil or sunstroke being very rare in any section of 
Virginia, and never seen here. 

The fall of rain for the same period is also found to be quite uniform, 
giving, as the general average for the four seasons, in inches : spring 
10, summer 15, fall 11, winter 10 — year 46. 

The prevailing winds are Southerly, generally from the Southwest, 
and it belongs to the periods or seasons when the temperature is gener- 
ally increasing. It is usually humid, yet elastic. It is the soft, pleas 
ant, peculiarly American wind, with a finely variable force. 

The earliest frost is about October 15th; the latest April 15th. 

Strictly speaking, there are no diseases endemic. Epidemics are rare, 
and when they do occur, there obtains to a great degree over the entire 
State that constitution of the atmosphere which predisposes to the dis- 
eases akin to the prevailing epidemic. 

The diseases here are generally frank and open in their character, 
and yield readily to judicious treatment ; but, let our surroundings be 
never so favorable for the promotion of health and longevity, pain, dis- 
ease and death are the inheritance of man, as always since the dread 
sentence, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake" was pronounced, maladies 
born of the earth, in every region, have reigned over our race and 
brought them to the grave. 

I regard this as a healthy climate. We all know that infants and 
young children are peculiarly susceptible to those influences which en- 
gender disease, and have less power to resist them than those of maturer 
acre, and hence it is that vital statisticians in estimating the healthful- 
ness or unhealthfulness of a given place, base their opinions much upon 
the number of these found therein, and inasmuch as very old persons, if 
not as susceptible to these influences, have their hold upon life so weak- 
ened as to render their tenure of it, when brought under them, very 
slight, they too may also be taken into the estimate. 

With children the streets of our villages and the yards of our farm 
houses are thronged; and I know of half a dozen people in this county 
■who are bordering upon ninety years^ the oldest being a woman now in 
her ninety-second year. 

It was a fact noticed by all during the late war, that those men seal 



105 

from hospitals in every other section of the State to the one here, who 
were suffering from old ill-conditioned wounds, chronic ulcers and chronic 
diseases of bowels, as well as those who came from the field debilitated 
and broken down, recovered most rapidly, and soon regained their ordi- 
nary standard of health and weight. lu a word, it is here the healthy 
are confirmed in the possession of that great boon, and here, also, the 
valitudinarian, from every clime, may find that which he seeks, and has 
learned to prize above all other blessings. 

L. N. Mayo, M. D." 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Report of Wyndham Robertson, Esq., "The Meadows," near Abing- 
don : 

"I send herewith a paper prepared for you, at my request, by three 
of our most practical citizens so much more competent than I, that I 
deem it the most desirable way of meeting your wishes. They have 
aimed to be accurate, so as not to excite false hopes. This is not a 
country non judice to make money in by farming, but to live in in comfort 
beyond any I know, with the same amount of labor and outlay. Where 
grass grows, comfort and independence are most sure; out of that crop 
comes subsistence in its simplest form. 

An Irish gardener and his wife once lived with me to whom, besides 
wages, I gave an extra of little account to me — the use and pasturage 
of a cow. They so lived off that cow, selling butter withal that a very 
large part of their money, wages, was drawn clear gains at the end of 
the year. Here, though, was management, industry and strict frugality 
very rarely found in the same degree. So, poor people here, with a 
cabin, garden patch, fruit (the apple especially, which is plenty and cer- 
tain), and a few acres for bread and a cow (which raises a pig always as 
well as a calf), may live in abundance and comfort, but not thrive in 
money. When you go beyond this, corn is raised with too much labor 
for the yield of it, and wheat is too uncertain to count on profit from 
farming; and it would still less pay to buy land and stock (for persons 
of moderate means) to make it from grazing. Yet you will see that, 
under favorable circumstances, as in Mr. Robert's case, an easy compe- 
tency may still be finally achieved by intelligence and great industry 
But he bought land, you will perceive, at $2.50 per acre, and the rail- 
way came along about the year '55, increasing values both of land and 
grains. His land is chiefly too steep for cultivation. He lives about six 
miles from the railroad, I think. 

The profits, sometimes considerable, made by graziers are rarely, if 



106 

ever, the result of mere stock-raising, but of judicious application of 
money to buy young stock, and feed for market. 

Tobacco may be raised here successfully and with good profit on fresh 
cleared lands ; but where they are steep they could not be long kept 
from washing (though our soil is slow to wash), and where flat, so much 
more valuable in the long run for meadow, as to be little used otherwise, 
and the proportion of gently rolling land is not large. 

I add a few observations on the minerals around us: salt, gypsum, 
iron and marble are found in this county ; the two latter in various lo- 
calities, mainly along its southern border ; the two former, of an almost 
chemically pure quality, and in quantities seemingly inexhaustible. The 
wells, where, as yet, salt only has been found, lie, as it were, in the neck 
of a lovely limestone valley separated by a range of wooded hills from 
the river (north fork of Holston). Owing to their great value, the di- 
viding line between Washington and Smythe counties, when the latter 
was formed in part out of the former, was run between them so as to 
throw equal values of this great mineral into each of these counties. 
For more than half a century they have been the almost exclusive 
source of supply for Southwestern Virginia, nearly one half the State 
of Tennessee, the eastern and northern border of North Carolina and 
northern border of Georgia and Alabama; their markets only ending 
in all directions where unable to cope successfully with foreign salt East 
and South, and with Kanawha salt Westward. The amount supplied 
has gradually enlarged to a present supply of about 400,000 bushels. 
During the recent war its use was abnormally extended East and South 
till the supply probably exceeded 3,000,000 bushels in 1864; and this 
heavy draft on the wells was met without any apparent strain or diminu- 
tion. The fossil salt has been struck in one only of ||the numerous bor- 
ings for brine made there and elsewhere in the vicinity. It was then 
come to in an open shaft sunk some 25 years ago at a distance of about 
120 feet from the surface (the wells are generally 200 feet deep), and 
was penetrated, it was stated by the gentleman who was exploring, to 
a further depth of about 80 feet through the solid mass without reaching 
its full thickness. The lumps extracted from the shaft which I have 
seen, are highly transparent but slightly colored by the red clay over- 
lying it, and they are of great purity 

Side by side of this, on the North, lies the gypsum, but it has been 
traced and worked at different points along the line from a point, per- 
haps, two miles West to a cave some fourteen miles East of Saltville, 
which abuts against and is inclosed by steep and impracticable moun 
tains (commercially speaking) without end. It has heretofore been but 



107 

imperfectly developed and irregularly mined. Before the railroad 
reached it (1856), its cost nearly doubled every 20 miles it was wagoned ; 
80 it commanded but a very limited market. After that the sales gradu- 
ally enlarged, and were increasing when the war postponed operations 
in it to matters of greater exigency. Last year and this, the business 
is assuming again important dimensions, and parties of sufficient means 
and enterprise have placed it on a stable footing, and will doubtless soon 
so developo and extend it as to make it a sensible element of production 
and wealth to our State. The sales last season exceeded 2,000 tons, 
and have more than doubled the present, which is now (May) about 
closing. Specimens I sent to the Smithsonian Institute and to Wash- 
ington College, though not yet analyzed, are pronounced, on inspection 
by the former, to be of excellent quality, and by the latter to be superior 
to "Nova Scotia." Besides the constant extension of its use in the agri- 
culture of our State, it is beginning to find great favor at the South, for 
its effect is said to be not only indispensable but invaluable on its great 
staple, cotton. Orders for it have come even from as far as Nashville, 
80 that it seems destined ere long to become one of the most important 
contributions to the mining industry, and, perhaps, that of the arts also 
of our country as well as to its agricultural wealth." 

Proforma estimate of outlay and receipts of a young married man estab' 
lishing himself in the county of Washington, State of Virginia, soher^ 
saving and industrious, upon a farm of forty acres, ivith a capital o/$500 
in gold. 

Estimates by Mr. Robertson's three neighbors: Messrs. Henry Rob- 
erts, W. Z. C. White and James K. Gibson, all of Abingdon. 

First Year. 

Oxdlay. 

40 acres land, at $20— first payment $267 00 

Log cabin and stable, 8100; wagon and harness, $100 200 00 

Horse $80, cow and calf $25, 5 sheep $1.30 each, sow and 

pigs $12, poultry, fruit trees and seeds $55 179 50 

Corn and hay'for horse 35 00 

Household and kitchen furniture 100 00 

Farming and other utensils 25 00 

Planting and cultivating 10 acres of corn, 10 of wheat, 10 of oats, 

potatoes, vegetables, including extra labor when necessary 110 '■(• 

Groceries and provisions 100 00 

Total outlay first year $1,016 50 



108 

Receipts (after deducting for domestic use). 

150 bushels ofcorn, at 60 cents $ 90 00 

50 bushels wheat,at S2 100 00 

100 bushels oats, at 50 cents 50 00 

Proceeds of garden, dairy and poultry-yard 75 00 

Total receipts first year $315 00 

Second Year. 

Outlay. 

Second payment on land $267 00 

Cultivating 10 acres corn 50 00 

10 of wheat and oats, &c 50 00 

Potatoes and vegetables, &c 10 00 

Groceries 25 00 

Total outlaygecond year $402 00 

Beceipts. 

150 bushels corn, at 60 cents $ 90 00 

50 ])ushels wheat, at $2; 100 bushels oats at 50 cents 150 00 

20 pounds wool, at 30 cents 6 00 

Proceeds garden, dairy and poultry yard 75 00 

Increase live stock and poultry 200 00 

Total receipts second year $521 00 

Third Year. 
Outlay. 

Third payment for land S266 00 

Farm expenses and fertilizers 25 00 

Groceries 25 00 

Total outlay third year $316 00 

Receipts (^deducting as before). 

50 bushels wheat at $2; 150 bushels corn at 60 cents $190 00 

100 bushels oats at 50 cents/ 50 00 

80 pounds wool at 30 cents 9 00 

1000 pounds bacon at $15 150 00 

Garden, dairy and poultry yard . 100 00 

Increase live stock and poultry 200 00 

Total receipts third year $699 OO 

Cases of Successful Industry/ ? 

Henry Roberts, aged 58 years, married in 1834, then in possession of 

a horse, saddle and bridle, and 100 acres of land, for which he was in 

debt $150. In 1865, he owned 125 acrea of land in a body. He is one 
of the most prosperous men in the county. Last year he hired three 



109 

hands ; two at §12 per month, and one at ?8 per month and board. His 
farming has not been extensive, as for the last two years he has been en- 
gaged in building, and hauling saw logs and lumber. His sales of lum- 
ber last year amounted to $1,000. This work was done with his three 
hands, except about 20 days hiring. Last year he had 40 acres corn, 
40 oats, 10 in wheat. On 40 acres he raised as follows: 10 acres 
wheat, 130 bushels; 10 acres corn, 500 bushels; 20 oats, 1200 bushels. 

Wheat, 130 bushels at $2 $260 00 

Corn, 500 bushels at 60 cents 800 00 

Oats, 1200 bushels at 25 cents 300 00 



$860 00 
Mr. Roberts gives the following as his view of prices, &c.: 
Land, average, cleared and fit for cultivation, $15 per acre. Labor, 
$120 per year and board. Cost of clearing, including fencing, $7 per 
acre. Cost of cultivation, $5 per acre. Corn, 25 to 30 bushels per 
acre, will sell for 65 cents per bushel. Wheat, 10 to 12 bushels per 
acre, will sell for $2 per bushel. Oats, 25 bushels per acre, will sell for 
50 cents per bushel. 

Health and water, best in the world. Good grape and fruit region. 
Best time to come, in the Fall, 

Emory and Henry College, a flourishing Institution, in Washington 
county. 

CARROLL. 

Carroll county, with a ragged and broken surface, is rich in minerals, 
especially in copper and iron. It is on the same formation upon which 
the celebrated copper mines of Ducktown, in the State of Tennessee, are 
situated. This vein, with out-croppings here and there,, and with occa- 
sional workings, may be traced up to the northeast as far as the counties 
of Nelson and Louisa. 

I am indebted to Mr. A. Eilers, M. E , of the Hale mines, for the fol- 
lowing: 

" This neighborhood being a plateau between the Blue Ridge to the 
east and the Iron mountains to the west, of a general width of about 18 
miles, is, on account of the poor soil and great masses of scattered rock, 
only useful as a grazing country. Its great elevation, about 3,000 feet 
above the Atlantic, and the consequent early, and late frosts too, forbid 
the successful cultivation of corn and tobacco. 

The rocks along the Blue Ridge are gneiss with quartz. From there, 
N, W., metamOrphic slates [talc, chlorite, hornblende, clay and mica 
slates] prevail, with occasional gneiss bands and quartz masses, until on 



110 

the top of the Iron mountaias, aalurian sandstones [Pofedam] set in; N. 
W. from this, dolomite and common limestones, and red and yellow cal- 
careous clay slates. The general strike is N. 54° E. dip, near the sur- 
face, 29°-33° S. E. 

Health ? Yqtj good, equal to Northern Minnesota. 

Most Prevalent Diseases f Dysentery, in the Fall. 
Water f Soft, no wells. 

Surface Bocks P Talc, chlorite and hornblende, slates, angetic rock, 
centicular masses of quartz. 

Staple Crops? Corn, rye, buckwheat. 

Yield of Com? About 15 to 20 bushels; oats, 30 bushels; hay, 
IJ tons. 

Fruits ? Apples. 

Vegetables ? All kinds for family use. 

natural Crrowth of Timber? Principally oak and chestnut. 

Natural Q-roioth of Berries and Briers ? Whortleberries, blackber- 
ries, strawberries, cranberries and raspberries. 

Grasses? Redtop. 

Mills, 3Iarkets, Schools and Churches? Inferior accommodation, es- 
pecially the last three. 

Price of Land ? $2 to ^5 per acre. 

Price of Labor? $15 to $26 per month. 

Copper mining and smelting works — if the manufacture of certain 
vitrols and brass are connected with it, the establishment will undoubtedly 
be a success. 

A. Etlers, M. E." 

FLOYD. 

This is also a mountainous, broken country, as an inspection of the 
map will show. The access to market is first by wagon or the hoof to 
the railway, and thence to Tidewater by rail. 

Report of William R. Gray, postoffice, Graysville, Floyd county: 

Health ? Very good — no epidemics. 

Water ? Excellent freestone — no wells. 

Staple Crops? Corn, rye, oats and buckwheat. Wheat scarcely 

ever raised. 

Yield ? Corn, 30 bushels ; oats, 30 bushels ; hay, 1 ton ; tobacco, 
600 pounds. 

Fruits ? Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, quinces. 

Vegetables ? Beans, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, beets, parsnips, cu- 
cumbers, and others. 



Ill 

Natural Growth of Timber f White, black, red and Spanish oaks, 
hickory, pine, dogwood, and others. 

Natural Girowth of Grasses ? Blue grass, and other kinds. 

Mills, Markets, Schools and Churches? Mills numerous; churches 
also. Schools, only common English. 

Price of Land? From §3 to $10 per acre. 

Labor? From $5 to $20 per month, according to quality. Our 
markets are Lynchburg, Salem, Christiausburg, &;c. Distance 18 to 80 
miles. No mines in operation. 

WYTHE. 

The chief industries of Wythe county are farming, grazing and mining. 
The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railroad passes through it, bringing 
it within six hours of Lynchburg, a flourishing market town, which both 
by rail and water is in communication with all the markets of the sea- 
board. 

There are in successful operation in this county, mines of lead, zinc 
and iron. The soil is good, yielding on the average per acre two tons 
of hay, 30 bushels of corn, and 15 of wheat. The staple crops are corn, 
wheat, oats and rye. In the forests of this, and the neighboring coun- 
ties, are found the beautiful sugar maple, with magnificent trees of spruce, 
and white and yellow pine. The trunks of some of these trees are from 
12 to 15 feet in circumference, straight as an arrow, and branchless to 
the height of 60 and sometimes 90 feet. They make timber that is higiiiy 
valued and much soujzht after by house-joiners and others. Besides 
these, the usual varieties of oaks, cedars, walnuts, and hickories, &c., 
abound. It is noticed that in these regions the pines delight more in 
the sandstone than in a limestone formation with its calcareous soils. 

The average price of land is quoted at $15 the acre, and labor at $15 
the month. 

The people of the county, aa elsewhere throughout the State, where 
the lands are good, are kind to strangers, and generous in their hospi- 
tality. 

BLAND. 

Extracts from the report of August Wesendouck, Esq., of Cluxi, and 
A. J. Nye, of Mechanicsburg. 

"We live on a branch of Kimberlin creek, called 'Nobusiness,' be- 
tween the mountains of Wolf creek and Flat-top in Bland county, in a 
valley ten miles long and one mile broad, trying to make a spire of ^rass 
grow where none grew before, clearing the forest, the abode of many a 



112 

deer, and the range for cattle during the Summer months. Several of 
our neighbors divide their industry between farming *and hunting. 

Health ? It is considered a healthy country ; the most prevalent epi- 
demic is rheumatism. 

Water f Spring water, limestone and freestone; no wells. 

Staple Crops ? Hay, millet, Hungarian grass, corn, wheat, rye, buck- 
wheat, barley, oats and flax. 

Yield? Of wheat, 10 bushels per acre; corn, 20; rye, buckwheat, 
millet, barley and oats, 10 ; hay, 2,000 pounds. 

Fruits ? Apples, peaches, cherries, quinces, pears, plums, strawber- 
ries, raspberries, currants and grapes. 

Vegetables ? Spinach, hohlrabe, cauliflower, carrots, beets, celery, 
lettuce, peas, beans, potatoes, handovers, parsnips, asparagus, turnips, 
kale, brocole, onions, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, parsley, pumpkin, 
radish, rhubarb, tomatoes, &c. 

Natural Grrowth of Timber? White oak, hickory, white and yellow 
pine, chestnut, gum, poplar, maple, sycamore, dogwood, magnolia, &c. 

Natural Growth of Flowers? Hundreds of beautiful flowers grow 
here in the woods; our garden brings any of the cultivated flowers. 

Mills, a Market, Schools and Churches ? Baltimore and the Valley 
of Virginia are our markets for cattle ; Richmond and Lynchburg for 
wheat; and Dublin for other articles. Mills convenient. Churches 
and schools country fashion. 

Price of Land ? From $1 to $20 per acre. 

Price of Labor? For field hands, $10 to $13 a month and board- 
Mechanics, from $1.50 to $3 per day. 

Mines and their Condition ? We have indications for lead mines and 
iron ore. Iron ore of the finest quality ; boulders large as flour barrels 
and tobacco hogsheads, and indications of lead and coal undeveloped. 

Most Successful cases of Profitable Industry ? Cattle raising is most 
successful ; sheep raising would be more so if we had protection ; horse 
raising pays very well ; wheat will pay as soon as prices go up again, 
and barley will do better ; hog raising will pay as soon as the production 
of grain increases — it pays well now below here. The wine business is 
in its infancy yet, but will pay as soon as every thing is properly un- 
derstood. 

Here is a chance for the manufiicture of potash and tannin. Our 
white pine timber will be very valuable as soon as our roads are put in 
good condition. 

Manufactures ? With plenty of water power and wood, we have no 
manufactures here. 



113 

Climate ? The climate would suit most Europeans, particularly the 
mountain people. It is as healthy as any in North America. 

August Wesendouck, 

Cluxi P. 0." 

GILES. 

Extracts from the reports of Col. Cutshaw and Wm. C. Eggleston, 
Esq., New River, White Sulphur Springs : 

" Timber is abundant of all the growths common to this section ; as 
white oak, chestnut, walnut, white and yellow pine, hemlock, sugar tree, 
ash and maple. Near the Salt Pond and the valley of Little Stony 
creek, white pine is in sufficient abundance to make an item, in sawing 
lumber for market, and several saw-mills, one run from the lake of Salt 
Pond, are now engaged in sawing lumber ; but the distance from market 
(some 20 miles) makes any trade in this business doubtful." 

Salt Pond is a beautiful fresh water lake on the top of a range 4,400 
feet above the sea. 

"Wheat, rye, corn, oats, flax and tobacco are raised, and vegetables of 
all kinds, with every variety of fruit common to the State. Wheat yields 
from 8 to 10 bushels ; corn, 25 ; oats, 15 ; rye, 10 per acre ; and to- 
bacco, 600 pounds. 

The crop of tree-sugar and sorghum is worthy of mention, especially 
the sorghum. Besides the grain crop raised, this is a fine grass country; 
clover, timothy, orchard, blue grass and herds grass grow well. A good 
deal of hay is made yearly, and large numbers of horses and cattle are 
raised and sent off to the Valley of Virginia and Eastern Virginia. The 
fat cattle are taken to Baltimore. The hog crop was formerly of impor- 
tance. Sheep succeed very well in this climate, and ought to be raised 
by every one. 

Coal? Brush mountain coal fields extend and crop out at New river, 
in sight of the Giles county line, IJ miles. Coal is also found on Peter's 
mountain, Angel's Rest mountain, and Salt Pond mountain. Small 
seams of coal have been found in the shales in several parts of the coun- 
ty, but no developments have exposed it in any workable quantities. 

Iron Ore ? Very rich specimens are found on Wolf Creek mountain, 
Walker Creek mountain, Spruce Run mountain ; also in the hills on New 
river in abundance. Red and brown hematite, with a compact brown 
hematite, highly magnetic, near the limestone formation, in one part of 
the county, are the varieties of ore found. 

Surface indications of manganese in various places, and also barytas 
8 



114 

have been seen, but no developments of these minerals have yet been 

made. 

In some few places marl or travertium is found ; but no instance is 
known where it has been applied to the soil. 

On New river, a compact limestone is found, well adapted to building 
purposes, and from its slab-like structure and low dip, is conveniently 
situated for quarrying, and may be an important consideration in any 
water improvement along this river. 

The White Sulphur Springs, on New river, combining as it does beau- 
tiful water scenery, with medicinal water, and pleasant summer tempera- 
ture; the Grey Sulphur Springs, near Monroe, and the Salt Pond moun- 
tain, with its lake of fresh water, elevated above the surrounding country, 
are places of fashionable resort in this county. 

The Price of Land? Varies from $10 to $30 per acre, though in 
the mountains it can be bought cheaper, and some land in choice places 
rates higher. 

Labor is very irregular and cannot be commanded at all times, even 
by high wages ; this is true, in a measure, throughout this part of the 
State." 

MONTGOMERY. 

Reports of Col. Cutshaw, Dr. Pepper, of , and Wm. G. Guerrant, 

Esq., Christiansburg : 

" This is an agricultural and pastoral county, though some tobacco is 
grown on the sunny slopes. It is naturally adapted to a short, blue 
grass. Owing to its altitude, the season is short, and sometimes frost 
comes every month in the year. 

The county, situated near the southern extremity of the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, presents a varied and singularly diversified surface, in its topo- 
graphical aspects. 

The main Alleghany and Blue Ridge mountains are broken into a 
series of small parallel ridges, forming small narrow valleys, the sources 
of numerous small streams, and a connection of these, by a table-land 
frequently passing into ridges, across the entire breadth of the county, 
forms a water shed to the streams flowing east and west, breaking through 
the Valley into streams emptying into Albemarle Sound and into the 
Ohio river. 

Water ? The county is well watered by the many small streams 
running in all directions, and is particularly noted for mineral springs 
of chalybeate, sulphur, magnesia, alum, and other properties, in various 
parts. Of these, the Yellow Sulphur, the Montgomery White, and the 
Alleghany are the most noted. 



115 

Timber ? Is abundant, including all the natural growths common to 
the State, and is convenient and quite sufficient for all domestic, econom- 
ical and practical uses for years to come. 

Soil? Varies according to the geological structure, being principally 
a grey limestone, with a red substratum of a more clayey composition. 
A lighter clay overlies the slates and shales, and in the sand or freestone 
section, a light and more sandy soil is found, generally thin and sterile 
on the hills. 

Staple Crops? Are wheat, yielding 6 to 15 bushels; corn, 20 to 40 
bushels ; oats, 15 to 20 bushels; hay, 1 to IJ tons ; and tobacco, 300 to 
600 pounds per acre, according to locality and improvements. 

In some instances highly improved land has exceeded these estimates, 
but taking the county as a whole, the yield is fairly put. Deep plow- 
ing, and very little fertilizing, are resorted to, and liming is very seldom 
used, though believed by the most intelligent farmers to be highly bene- 
ficial. 

Vegetables and Fruits ? All kinds are readily and abundantly grown, 
but the grape, though well adapted to the soil, is very little raised. 

In its minerals the county, as far as yet developed, possesses only coal 
and iron ore of practical importance. 

Coal ? Numerous openings, though on a limited scale, have been made 
in the Brush and Princes mountains to obtain coal deposited there. Its 
character varies from a semi-bituminous to a tolerably good anthracite, 
and if experiment could decide that a selection of the coal will answer 
blast furnaces, the smelting of iron, direct with this as a fuel, will prob- 
ably add greatly to the practical importance of this deposit. 

From openings made in the western slope of the Brush mountain, and 
upon both slopes of the Princes mountain, a deposit of coal, in all proba- 
bility, underlies the valley between these mountains ; and although 
an average thickness of two feet only can be relied upon, the low dip of 
about 3°, make it convenient for working, should the manufacture of 
iron be the object in extracting the coal. 

Veins of iron ore show themselves in proximity to this coal field, though 
their extent has not yet been determined by development. Iron ore is 
found cropping out and lying upon the surface in many places in the coun- 
ty, but except near theAlleghany Springs, where a slight development has 
exposed a nodular deposit promising from 456 feet in width, with an 
extent of a few hundred yards, nothing of a positive nature can |be said 
of the ore. 

Baryta? Surface indications of barytes are seen in several places, 
but nothing like a vein has yet been found. 

Lead and Zinc ? Indications of lead and zinc have also been found, 



116 

but the limited explorations made, make the prospect of finding any large 
deposits of these ores unfavorable. 

Markets ? The Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railway passing through 
the middle of this county, makes a convenient line of transportation for 
produce from all parts of the county. A distance of twelve miles will, 
perhaps, reach the farthest point in the county from the road. 

Mineral Springs ? The Alleghany Springs, 4 miles. Yellow Sulphur, 
3 miles, and Montgomery White, 1^ miles, from the railroad are places 
of resort in the county, and have been long known for the excellent medici- 
nal properties of their waters, 

A conglomerate existing in Brush mountain has been found to make 
an excellent burr stone, and is used in many mills in this section of the 
State. Other stones have been found, and have been used to a limited 
extent for grindstones and whetstonee." 

BOTETOURT. 

Dr. Mayo, of Pattonsburg, has made voluminous reports of much 
value concerning this county. He estimates the annual outlay for three 
years for a young married man sober, saving, and industrious, settling 
on a farm of 40 acres, costing $18 an acre, payments in three a.nnual 
instalments, as follows : 

Building of cabin and out-hoFuses, purchase of farming implements, 
household furniture, stock, subsittence, and hire of extra labor to be 

Outlay. Receipts 

First year $959 % 605 

Second year 321 793 

Third year 490 1210 

As corroborative of these estimates for the third year, he quotes one 
of his neighbors who last year raised 750 bushels of wheat on 27 acres, 
and sold it for $1,500. He allows, in his estimate, $180 for the pur- 
chase of two plow horses, $20 for a cow and calf, $7.50 for 5 sheep, $7 
for sow and pigs — and, as all the gentlemen do, who are co-operating 
with me in this work, request that strangers seeking further information 
will apply to them. The Doctor will take pleasure in furnishing them, 
»11 in his power, and gratutiously. 

Coal ? He reports "a deposit of bituminous coal near Fincastle, the 
county seat. It has been worked for some years, not however with much 
judgment or discretion, and hence with very little profit. It burns very 
well in open grates, and is much used by blacksmiths in their forges. 
Strong indications of coal have also been found at the mouth of the 
Catawba creek which empties into the James river. 



117 

Other Minerals ? Manganese and barytes, different varieties of ochre, 
limestone, marble, gypsum or plaster are all, except the first two, found 
in sufficient quantity and quality to justify the working. 

Industries ? Agriculture chiefly occupies the attention of the in- 
habitants. 

Crops ? The soil generally is good, producing, when properly tilled, 
remunerating crops of the different cereals, grasses, and tobacco, which 
are the principal exporte from the county. 

The yield of these to the acre, their market value, the value of land 
improved and unimproved, I must leave to others to give. The annual 
aggregate sum of sales from the county might be greatly increased if 
our farmers would turn their attention more to fruit raising. The apple 
and vine flourish remarkably well here. 

There are, in the county, two woollen factories, one at Fincastle, the 
county seat, a small one ; the other at Bonsack's depot, on the Atlantic, 
Mississippi and Ohio railroad, upon a large scale. Both make very good 
cloth, but neither attempt the manufacture of the finer woolen goods. 
Both, I believe, pay their owners a very handsome per cent, upon their 
investments. 

Mills and Furnaces? Of flouring mills there are, perhaps, a dozen, 
and as many saw mills. These last do only the neighborhood sawing. 
Of the flouring mills, there are four or five that can turn out fifty bar- 
rels of flour a day. There is but one cupola or foundry for making hol- 
low ware, plow castings, &c., and this is upon a very small scale. 

Water ? James river runs through the county, dividing it irregularly, 
leaving much the larger portion upon the right bank. The county is 
very well watered. There are innumerable springs for domestic puposes, 
all of them more or less impregnated with limestone, except those which 
issue from the base of the main Blue Ridge chain, these being freestone. 

Water Poiver f In addition to the great water power aiforded by the 
dams of the James river and Kanawha canal, there are numerous large 
creeks in the county, as Craigs, Turkey, Catawba, Roaring Run, Jen- 
nings, Mill, Black, and Purgatory all affording a considerable amount 
of power, and used to a greater or less extent for moving machinery. These 
all having a good supply of water throughout the year, and a rapid fall 
could be made to move quadruple the machinery now upon them. 

The range for cattle is very good and extensive ; comparatively few 
are raised for market in the county. 

The timber is generally large and thrifty, and consists of the different 
species of oak, hickory, white and black walnut, maple or sugar tree, 
ash, pine, poplar, chestnut, wild cherry, buckeye, and sycamore. 

It has often struck me with astonishment that there are so few manu- 
factories in this county. There is such an abundance of water power, 



118 

BO uniformly distributed, that there need be no crowding together of 
factories ; such an abundance of raw material for almost every kind of 
manufacture ; a soil of sufficient productiveness to furnish in abundance 
all the necessaries for the supply of a large population ; a people of more 
than average intelligence, industrious and energetic, these it seems to me 
are a combination of favorable circumstances possessed by few places, in 
80 eminent a degree, as here, and are all the inducements needed by en- 
terprise and capital for their immigration. , 

This is particularly the case for the manufacture of iron in its various 
forms and for agricultural implements, for here we have the ores in 
profusion, from which iron, for all purposes, can be made ; immense 
forests for making charcoal, and which yield superior timber for manu- 
facturing all kinds of agricultural implements, and water power to drive 
the necessary machinery. 

Vegetation ? Of medicinal herbs, plants, &c., &c., we have, besides 
those common to every portion of the State, the wild cherry, ginseng, co- 
hosh or blacksnake root, seneca snakeroot, serpentaria or Virginia snake- 
root, uvaurse or bearberry, slippery elm, both red and white, sarsapa- 
rilla, wintergreen, partridge berry or mountain tea, and the prickly ash. 
There are several others which grow here, but less abundantly, as bella- 
donna, lobelia, American senna, coltsfoot, skunk cabbage, ground ivy, 
Indian turnip or wake Robin wahoo." 

ROCKBRIDGE. 

This county derives its name from the Natural Bridge, a grand piece 
of Nature's masonry which spans with a single arch Cedar creek at the 
height of 196 feet, and, like all the Valley counties, is a rich agricultu- 
ral and pastoral county. It is also rich in iron mines and good marble 
quarries. 

Its county seat is Lexington, population 2,000, boasting of two fine 
institutions of learning, the Virginia Military Institute and Washington 
and Lee University. 

This county, like many other parts of the Valley, was settled chiefly 
by a hardy Scoth-Irish population, who have established here the pre- 
vailing religion of their own country. Most of the inhabitants are Pres- 
byterians. 

The James river, with canal and slack water navigaton from this 
county to Richmond, passes through its southern corner. The North 
river passes through the middle of the county, with a canal and slack 
water navigation from Lexington, 19 miles, down to its mouth, where 
the James river breaks through the Blue Ridge. Here this branch of 
the canal joins that of the James River and Kanawha to Richmond, 
which, when completed, will dehouche on the Ohio river at the mouth of 
the Kanawha. 



119 

The average level of this county is between 1,000 and 1,500 feet 
above the sea. It is abundantly watered, and the formation being lime- 
stone, the water is generally hard. 

Rockbridge, like all the rest of the State, is a fine grape country. I 
know of no part of the world where more delicious grapes are produced 
than those which Mr. Wiess, a vine dresser from the Rhine, furnishes 
our table. They are grown in his vineyard in the neighborhood of Lex- 
ington. I have seen larger berries in the green-houses, and larger 
bunches in the dry counties where cultivation is carried on by means of 
irrigation, but a more delicious grape for the table, I have not seen either 
in Spain, the Mediterranean, France, Mexico, South America or Africa, 
or in any other part of the world where I have been. The Virginian 
grape, with its varieties, is, I fancy, an excellent grape for wines. Mr. 
Wiess gets ten cents a pound for his for table use, and that is the gen- 
eral price throughout the State for them as a fruit. This is a new 
branch of industry taken up since the war. It will, I have no doubt, 
prove very remunerative, especially to those who are prepared to go into 
it with the proper fixtures and conveniences for making and cellaring 
their wines. 

The climates of Rockbridge are like those of the Valley, generally va- 
riable. They are liable to great and sudden changes in the winter. 
The range between the coldest day in winter and the hottest day in sum- 
mer in some years quite 100° F. Inflammatory diseases are far the 
most prevalent in this county and in this belt generally, so much so that 
in some counties rheumatism may be said to be the prevailing disease* 

Major Ross, of Lexington, has kindly furnished me an estimate show- 
inc the outlay and expenses which a young married man with $300 ia 
his pocket and well up to his business, might expect to make on the pur- 
chase and cultivation of a farm of 40 acres in this county 

First Year. — Outlay. 

Purchase 40 acres of land at $30, $1,200— first payment $ 300 00 

Buildin£?s. $100; plow, harrow and gearing 140 00 

Horse $80. mule $80, cow and calf $20 180 00 

5 sheep $10, sow and pigs, poultry, trees and seed 20 00 

Cart $20, forage for horses 6 months 100 00 

25 bushels seed wheat, corn, oats and potatoes 46 50 

Planting and cultivating 10 acres corn, 20 wheat and 5 oats 30 00 

Groceries and provisions 100 00 

Total outlay first year $916 50 

Receipts (after deducting for family use). 

200 bushels corn at 75 cents $ l-'^O 00 

200 bushels wheat, $2; 150 bushels oats at 50-75 cents 475 00 

In this county tobacco is very little raised ; the preparation for 
it involves considerable expense in building houses, &c., and the cul- 



120 

tivation requires an intimate acquaintance with the necessities of 
the plant not usually possessed by foreigners. 

800 pounds pork, 20 of wool at 30 cents 86 00 

2 tons hay at $15 30 00 

Increase of stock 100 00 

Proceeds garden, dairy and poultry yard 50 00 

Total receipts first year $891 00 

Second Year. — Outlay. 

Second payment on land $ 300 00 

Sowing 10 acres wheat and corn, oats and timothy. 15 00 

Extra labor at harvest GO 00 

Groceries 30 00 

Total outlay second year $405 00 

Receipts (deducting as before). 

50 bushels corn at 75 cents $ 37 00 

250 bushels wheat at $2, 200 bushels oats at 50 cents 600 00 

1,000 pounds pork at 10 cents 100 00 

40 pounds wool at 30 cents 12 00 

Proceeds orchard, garden, dairy and poultry 50 00 

Increase live stock and poultry 150 00 

Total receipts second year $949 00 

Third Year. — Outlay. 

Third payment on land* $ 800 00 

Farm expenses, extra labor and fertilizers 150 00 

Groceries 50 00 

Total outlay third year $500 00 

Receipts {deducting as before). 

150 bushels wheat at $2, 100 bushels corn at 75 cents $ 375 00 

100 bushels oats at 50 cents, 15 tons hay at $20 350 00 

5 muttons at $4, 8 pounds wool at 30 cents 44 00 

1,000 pounds bacon at 16 cents 160 00 

Proceeds orchard, garden, dairy and poultry yard 100 00 

Increase livestock and poultry 250 00 

Total receipts third year $1,279 00 

This county lies, with the famous region of mineral waters of Vir- 
ginia, in, perhaps, the most remarkable region in the world. With a 
radius of 100 miles, a circle may be drawn, lying chiefly in Virginia, 
which will include varieties of all the mineral waters of Europe from 
hot to cold, salt, sulphur, chalybeate, alum, &c. The Rockbridge 
Baths ; the Alum Springs; the Cold Sulphur Springs; Wilson's Springs, 
with othel" mineral waters that have not been brought to notice as water- 
ing places, are all in this county. In the adjoining county of Bath, 
there are the Bath Alum, the Hot and the Warm, the Healing, the 
Milboro' and others not yet utilized. 

In Botetourt county are Dibberell's Sulphur Springs. . In Roanoke 

^Leaving oue payment oa laud still due. 



121 

county, Coyner's and the Roanoke Springs, all of which are esteemed 
for the medicinal virtue of the waters, and to which vast numbers of 
people from all parts of the land resort every summer. 

AUGUSTA. 

The rural population of Augusta and Rockingham is larger than that 
of any other two counties in Virginia, and the aggregate value of the 
real estate in Augusta exceeds that of any other county. Staunton, the 
most thriving town in the Valley, is the county seat of Augusta. This 
county, as well as Rockingham, Shenandoah and Frederick, was settled 
up, in a great measure, by Germans, and the population has retained its 
German character. 

Industries ? As in other counties of the State, the chief industries 
in this part of the Valley are agricultural, pastoral and mining. Here, 
as elsewhere, the land is well watered and wooded, and the iron dug 
from the hills is smelted in charcoal furnaces. 

According to the report of Samuel P. Finley, Riverside, Augusta 
county, the improved lands of the county vary in value form $30 to 
$100 the acre. 

Minerals ? "The most common minerals are iron, manganese, and kao- 
line. 

Staple Crops ? Corn, wheat, oats, hay and grass seed. 

Yield per acre ? Ranges from, for corn and oats, 25-75 bushels ; 
wheat, 5-15; clover seed, 1-2; timothy ditto, 4-8; hay, 1-2| tons. 

The prices of these staples range, for corn, from 25-75 cents ; wheat, 
$1.50-$2.50; timothy seed, $2. 50-$4 ; clover seed, $5-$10 ; hay, $10- 
$15 per ton." 

WARREN. 

W. C. Overall, Esq., Front Royal, furnishes the following information 
concerning this county, which exhausts the replies received from the in- 
habitants of the Valley belt. 

Minerals ? "The Blue Ridge mountains bounding the counties of 
Page and Warren are rich in minerals, chiefly copper ores and manga- 
nese, which have been examined and tested by the best chemists, and 
pronounced to contain a large percentum of mineral. 

Timber ? Some of the land is heavily timbered with all kinds of 
wood — oak, pine, chestnut, locust and walnut. This mountain land ia 
well fitted for wine-dressing. 

Industries? Grape culture is becoming very profitable with us. 
Many are turning their attention to raising peaches and grapes for the 
Northern markets and the distillation of wine and brandy. 

Prices ? Cultivated land may be had at from $15 to $30 per acre — 
depending on the size of the tract proposed to be sold and its improve- 
ments. 



122 

The principal pursuits are agriculture, lumbering and grazing to some 
extent. The mountain range, to those who live near the mountain, is 
very fine for stock of all kinds, which can subsist at large half the year. 
The mountains abound in wild game, fruit and nuts; sumac and other 
dye-stuffs are found. There is a large and very valuable manganese 
mine situated in the county of Shenandoah. It was opened, examined 
and tested by the best chemists of New York and Philadelphia, and pro- 
nounced best grey oxide of manganese, yielding from 60 to 100 per- 
centum of mineral. 

Timber? The land is well timbered and for sale. We will sell on rea- 
sonable terms. There is much land for sale in this part of the country 
at low rates, and capital is greatly needed; labor cheap and plentiful." 

The following tables show, like the others, the black and white popu- 
lation, the quantity of improved and unimproved lands belonging to 
farms, with the average number of acres to each white person among 
the rural population : 

VALLEY BELT. 



Counties. 



Alleghany 

Augusta 

Bath 

Bland 

Botetourt 

Carroll 

Clarke 

Craig.. 

Floyd 

Frederick 

Giles 

Grayson 

Highland 

Montgomery. 

Page.... 

Pulaski.. 

Roanoke 

Rockbridge.. 
Rockingham. 
Shenandoah. 

Smythe 

Warren 

Washington.. 
Wythe 



Population. 



White. 



3,095 

22,026 

2,906 

3,783 

8,166 

8,819 

4,511 

2,712 

8,827 

13,863 

5,272 

8,833 

3,803 

9,6 

7.476 

4,729 

6,218 

12,162 

21,152 

14,260 

7,654 

4,611 

14,156 

4,717 



Black. 



Whites 

in 
Towns. 



579 

6,737 

889 

217 

3.163 

328 

2,159 

230 

997 

2,733 

598 

754 

348 

2,882 

986 

1,809 

3,132 

3,890 

2,516 

676 

l,24i 

1,105 

2,653 

68 



Total 203,405 40,693 



4,674 



579 
175 
590 
151 
255 
8,629 



Acreage. 



K J 



Impr'ed. 



571 



855 

1,982 

2,254 

2,452 

288 

486 

469 

1,198 



20,608 



23,423 

222,843 

37,913 

30,082 

73,691 

57,656 

73,253 

27,107 

68,627 

134,160 

40.102 

65,389 

53,491 

79,573 

48,744 

61,250 

69,553 

100,794 

184,134 

114,931 

56,478 

55,269 

145,802 

85,387 

1909,601 



Unimp'd 



Acres per ! ^ '^ q| 
rural white' g ^ 
inh'bit'nts. I<| 



87,013 

178,028 

134,705 

86,146 

82,222 

136,110 

26,216 

63,839 

93,801 

75,609 

84,236 

129,418 

116,766 

125,658 

56,506 

110,604 

94,228 

112,640 

130,096 

85,335 

88,983 

41,638 

186,254 

159,321 

2485,372 



20 
23 
60 
31 
21 
22 
26 
36 
19 
21 
23 
22 
44 
22 
14 
36 
31 
21 
17 
17 
20 
23 
24 
70 

28 



$13 00 



TRANS-ALLEGHANY BELT. 

The six counties of this Belt with an aggregate area short of 3,000 
square miles, are Buchannan, Lee, Tazewell, Wise, Scott and RusseU. 



123 

They lie in the Mississippi Valley, for they are all drained off into that 
river, either through the tributaries of the Ohio, or of the Tennessee. 
They are rich in coal and iron, but owing to the cost of transportation, 
the industry of the people is confined chiefly to stock raising. 

I have no special reports from the inhabitants of this Belt. Accord- 
ing to the last United States census returns (1870), its total population 
was 57,760. The average price of land is now $3.50 per acre. 

The mountains here abound with game, and the brooks with trout. 
Bears, deer, foxes, wild turkeys, pheasants, squirrels, raccoons and opos- 
sums are the most abundant. 

Tables of population, farms and average number of acres to each rural 
inhabitant, white, in the Trans-Alleghany Belt. 



Counties. 



Buchannan 

Lee 

Russell 

Scott 

Tazewell.... 
Wise , 

Total. 



Population. 



White. 



3,730 
12,263 

9.93G 
12,512 

9.193 

4,717 



53,351 



Black. 



47 

1,005 

1,167 

524 

1,598 



4,409 



Whites 

in 
Towns. 



242 

164 

80 



486 



Acreage. 



Impr'ed. 



14,055 
75, ''SI 
74.209 
70,449 
63,404 
24,696 

322,544 



Unim'd 



195,060 
148.527 
113,541 
158.017 
154.914 
195,215 

965,375 



Acres per 
rural whit« 
inh'bit'nts. 

56 
18 
20 
70 
22 
47 

42 



a -i o 
t Ph 



$3 50 



RESUME 

Virginia contains an area of 38,352 square miles [besides about 3,000 
square miles of water], equal to 24,545,280 acres. 

There are 73,849 farms in the State ; they contain in round numbers 
8,169,040 acres of improved, and 9,980,870 of unimproved acres, and 
average 246 acres a piece. 

In France, the average size of the farms is 42 acres. Besides the 
9,980,870 acres of unimproved land which belong to the farms, there are 
6,395,369 acres of land and water which do not form a part of any of 
the farms. 

The average of white population to the square mile in Virginia and 
different European countries is, for 

Virginia, 18 

Scotland, 92 

Denmark, 114 

Hanover, 123 

Austria, 142 



Bavaria, 156 


Wertemberg, 


210 


Prussia, 159 


Holland, 


250 


France, 176 


England, 


307 


German States, 177 


Saxony, 


353 


Ireland, 205 


Belgium, 


397 



124 



The average value of the farm lands in what is now Virginia, was then 
$14.60 the acre. 

According to the estimate embodied in this report, and prepared by 
some of our most intelligent farmers, it is within the power of any young 
married man, who brings with him $500, who is well up to his business, 
sober, saving and industrious, to make, in three years, $1,100 all clear, 
and to be the sole and independent owner of a farm of 40 acres of 
land besides. 

I think that these estimates will hold good whenever they shall be 
brought to the test, for according to the census tables of 1860, every 
farmer in the State had, during the previous decade, made and laid by as 
clear gain, property of the value of nearly $2,000— this average included 
the idle and the wasteful, the prodigal, as well as the industrious and the 
frugal, whereas, the estimates apply only to the skilful and prudent. 

The following tables have been prepared to show the wealth of each 
county, arranged according to Belts. They are very instructive, pre- 
senting besides a vast amount of useful information, some striking features, 
especially those which relate to the value of personal and real estate ia 
both county and Belt : 

TIDEWATER BELT. 

FIRST DIVISION OR SOUTH-SIDE. 
Valuation of Estate Real and Personal.* 



Counties. 



Isle of Wight.. 

Nansemond 

Norfolk 

Prince George. 
Princess Anne. 
Southampton... 

Surry 

Sussex 



Total. 



Real. 



8 1,161,250 

1,520,512 

13,619,741 

1,103,043 

1,163.256 

1,488,394 

733,024 

867,502 



$21,656,722 



Personal. 



^ 459,512 
561,893 

2,635,101 
307,005 
844,551 
840,480 
293,824 
300,435 



$5,742,801 



Aggregate. 



$ 1,620,762 
2,082,405 
16,254,842 
1,410,048 
1,507,807 
2,328,874 
1,026,848 
1,167,937 



$27,399,523 



Accomac 

Northampton. 



Total. 



SECOND DIVISION OR EASTERN SHORE. 



$2,984,793 
951,423 



$3,936,216 



$1,066,960 
381,271 



$1,448,231 



$4,051,753 
1,332,694 



$5,384,447 



*rrom Report Auditor of Virginia for 1876. 



125 



THIRD DIVISION OR PENINSULA. 



Counties. 



Real. 



Personal. 



Aggregate. 



Charles City.... 
Elizabeth City 

James City 

Henrico. 

"New Kent 

Warwick 

York 



Total. 



Caroline 

Essex... 

Gloucester 

King and Queen. 
King William.... 

Matthews 

Middlesex 



I 652,321 
756,891 
640,621 

32,099,225 
378,482 
294,703 
637,836 



J 192,074 
213,245 
266,236 

8,767,431 

180,421 

58.085 

148,556 



55,460,079 $9,826,048 
FOURTH DIVISION. 



I 844,395 
970,136 
906,857 

40,866,656 
558,903 
352,788 
786,392 



Total. 



$1,888,578 
829,689 

1,213,510 
817,461 

1,034,913 
641,894 
598,751 



$7,024,796 



$ 549,157 
219,265 
415,960 
289,330 
340,939 
179,805 
378,241 



$2,372,697 



$45,286,127 



^2,437,735 
1,048,954 
1,629,470 
1,106,791 
1,375,852 
821,699 
976,992 



$9,397,493 



FIFTH DIVISION OR NORTHERN NECK. 



King George 

Lancaster 

Northumberland. 

Richmond 

Westmoreland. .. 



Total. 



$981,105 
249,676 
807,094 
610,429 
825,790 



$3,474,094 



$259,093 
141,235 
248.046 
262,752 
321,793 



$1,232,919 



$1,240,198 
390,911 

1,055,140 
873,181 

1,147,583 



$4,707,013 



SIXTH DIVISION. 



Alexandria.. 

Fairfax 


$4,731,603 
4,178,882 
2,358,425 
1,047,336 


$846,439 
995,711 
532,353 
359,722 


$5,578,042 
5,174,595 
2,890,777 
1,407,058 


Prince William 

Stafford ... 




Total 


$12,316,246 


$2,734,224 


$15,050,470 




Grand total 


$83,868,153 


$23,356,920 


$107,225,073 



126 



PIEDMONT BELT. 



Counties. 



Real. 


Personal. 


Aggregate. 


$ 6,197,305 


$ 1,973,084 


$ 8,170,389 


1,179,867 


344,329 


1,524,196 


2,063,402 


608,058 


2,671,460 


880,440 


343,202 


1,223,642 


3,726,680 


1,042,629 


4,769.309 


1,150,958 


544,455 


1,695,413 


1,741,258 


411,601 


2,152,859 


6,013,846 


2,344,055 


8,357,901 


4,353,937 


619,703 


4,973,640 


1,886,566 


667,595 


2,554,161 


2,389,755 


624,545 


3,014,300 


1,235,525 


313,749 


1,549,274 


6,802,801 


2,837,783 


9,640,584 


7,903,536 


1,935,198 


9,838,734 


1,275,402 


362,523 


1,637,925 


2.013,072 


754,452 


2,767,524 


1,461,300 


377,576 


1,838,876 


580,420 


204,369 


784.789 


638,537 


215,350 


853,887 


3,335,331 


1,234,764 


4,570,095 


2,138,008 


521,615 


2,659,628 


970,241 


475,897 


1,446,138 


9,803,044 


3,304,595 


13,107,639 


2,240,387 


888,139 


3,128,526 


813,109 


378,989 


1,192,098 


1,717,545 


715,081 


2,432,626 


2,078,271 


778,961 


2,857,232 


2,064,602 


539,962 


2,604,564 


849,159 


306,622 


1,155,781 


2,218,500 


794,343 


3,012,843 


939,404 


364,840 


1,304,244 


6,689,075 


1,922,336 


7,611,411 


2,068,367 


462,065 


2,530,432 


441,929 


246,989 


688,918 - 


2,479,848 


768,885 


8.248,738 


1,771,842 


458,296 


2,230,138 


$95,113,269 


$30,686,635 


125,799,904 



Albemarle 

Amelia 

Amherst 

Appomattox... 

Bedford.... 

Brunswick 

Buckingham.... 

Campbell 

Chesterfield 

Charlotte. 

Culpeper 

Cumberland.... 

Dinwiddle 

Fauquier 

Fluvanna 

Franklin 

Goochland 

Green 

Greenville 

Halifax 

Hanover 

Henry 

Loudoun 

Louisa 

Lunenburg 

Madison 

Mecklenburg... 

Nelson 

Nottoway 

Orange 

Patrick . 

Pittsylvania. .. 
Prince Edward 

Powhattan 

Spottsylvania... 
Kappahannock 

Total 



127 
VALLEY BELT. 



Counties. 



Real. 



Personal. 



Aggregate. 



Alleghany 

Augusta 

Bath 

Bland..- 

Botetourt. ... 

Carroll 

Clarke 

Craig 

Floyd 

Frederick 

Giles 

Grayson 

Highland 

Montgomery. 

Page... . 

Pulaski 

Roanoke 

Rockbridge... 
Rockingliara. 
Shenandoah.. 

Smyth 

Warren 

Washington. 
Wythe 



$ 1,053,209 
10,382,176 

792,413 

463,875 
23,837,588 

582,432 
2,471,686 

557,267 
1,050.887 
4,706,236 
1,163,721 

676,862 
1,017,567 
2,825,749 
1,613,815 
1,718,052 
2,786,942 
4,201,829 
6,883,688 
3,599,167 
1,623,152 
1,447.699 
2,695,029 
2.590 940 



Total. 



$59,288,1.^1 



301,088 

3,262,855 

313,597 

191,625 

626,442 

304,727 

506,515 

160,495 

369,236 

1,490,919 

368,799 

287,504 

388,476 

677,819 

564,098 

624.776 

814,212 

1,583,951 

2,070,017 

1,153,517 

503,563 

370,110 

868,561 

1,133,529 



$8,937,031 



^ 1,354,297 

13,645,031 

1,106,010 

655,500 
3,010,200 

887,159 
2,978,201 

717,762 
1,420,123 
6,197,155 
1,532.520 

964,366 
1,40(5,043 
3,503,568 
2,177,913 
2,342,828 
3,601,154 
5,785,780 
8,954,305 
4,752,684 
2,126,715 
1,817,809 
3,563,590 
3,724,467 

$78,225,182 



TRANS-ALLEGHANY BELT. 



Counties. 



Real. 



Personal. 



Aggregate. 



Buchannan 

Lee 

Russell 

Scott 

Tazewell 

Wise 

Total.. 



^ 217,964 

1,280,508 

916,839 

787,773 

1,074,027 

205,835 



$4,482,946 



93,574 
591,746 
491,232 
611,841 
429,833 
154,270 



$2,272,496 



\ 311,538 
1,872,254 
1,408,071 
1,299,614 
1,503,860 
360,105 

^6,755,442 



128 
RECAPITULATION. 



Region. 


Real. 


Persowal. 


Aggregatb. 


Tirlpvvfltpr Tip]t 


$83,868,153 

95,113,269 

59,288,151 

4,482,946 


$23,356,920 

30,686,635 

18,937,031 

2,272,496 


$107,225,073 

125,799,904 

78,225,182 

6,755,442 


P'ipflninnf' Tiplt 


Vallev Belt 


Trans- Alleffhany Belt 




Grand total 


$242,752,519 


$75,253,082 


$318,005,601 



These tables, with those already presented, show the distribution of 
the negro population by the counties and belts, also the wealth and pop- 
ulation, the average quantity of land for each white person of the rural 
population, which, with the total area of farm lands and the average size 
of a Virginia family (5J souls) as elements, will also give the number 
and size of the farms in the several counties. The latest tables show 
the average value of land to be. 

$20 the acre in the Tidewater belt. 

$13 " " Valley " 

$10 " " Piedmont " 

$3| " " Trans Alleghany belt. 

THE SUMMING UP. 

The climate and geographical position of Virginia show that here the 
year is not divided into seasons of wet and dry, but, like Europe, into 
Winter and Summer, Spring and Autumn, with grateful showers at all 
seasons. The annual rainfall here is between 30 and 40 inches, and 
corresponds to that of France, England and Germany, with more sun- 
shine than either of these, or even Italy, and a climate altogether as 
healthy. 

Everything that can be ' cultivated in either Germany, France, or 
England, may be grown here equally as well, with other things besides, 
such as Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, peanuts and sweet potatoes, which 
are not known as staples there. 

The climates and soils of Virginia are as favorable to the cultivation of 
the grape and the manufacture of wine, as they are in France or Ger- 
many. The mulberry and the silk worm would find more genial climates 
and favorable conditions here than they do there. So with the beet and its 
sugar, hops and beer, the olive and its oil, for where figs grow the olivo 
thrives. The shores of Virginia are in more sunny climes, for they are 



129 

nearer the equator than those of France, therefore they are more favor- 
ably situated for the manufacture of sea salt by solar evaporation, than 
those of France, even on the Mediterranean where salt is turned out at 
less than one cent the bushel. We pay 80 cents for it here, and some- 
times a dollar— (from $2.50 to $2.75 the sack). 

The pastures are as green, the running brooks as abundant, and the 
water as fine in Virginia as they are there ; and the dairy, with its milk 
and cream, its butter and cheese, would not be less remunerative here 
than it is in Great Britain, or on the continent, for our winters are milder 
than theirs ; after a few weeks, and sometimes days of intense cold, their 
severity is past and gone ; by reason of this it does not cost so much 
to winter cattle here as it does there. 

The surface of this State is diversified with hill and dale, mountain 
ranges and fertile valleys sinking down and rising up their loftiest peaks 
to the height of 4,500 feet. They afford the finest sheep walks, and the 
wool from their flocks is not surpassed by that of Saxony or any other 
country. 

The industries of the poultry yard are ignored almost entirely in our 
system of husbandry. 

In France these yield $50,000,000 a year. Here eggs sell for 25 cents 
the dozen, and fowls 16 cents the pound. The turkey is indigenous to 
Virginia, and her forests afford cover and shelter to large flosks of them 
in the wild state. No doubt the poultry business might be made nearly 
as profitable as it is in France. 

The rivers, bays, and ponds, team with fish ; they are often covered 
■with wild ducks, geese, brandt, and swans ; and the barn yards are live- 
ly with turkeys, Guinea fowls, ducks, geese, peafowls, and chickens of 
many breeds. The Legislature has passed an act and granted money to 
encourage fish culture in all the waters of Virginia, and her rivers and 
streams, from the mountains to the sea, are now being hberally stocked 
with the finest varieties. 

There are many sources of wealth in our forests, and especially in 
those that stand a little way back from the seashore, that are still lite- 
rally untouched. The mountains are clothed with the finest of timber ; 
there are numerous streams and unlimited water power all running to waste 
at their foot, and yet, with the exception of staves and shingles, shiptimber 
and fire wood in the Tidewater belt, the lumber business, like piscicul- 
ture, has scarce a place among the industries of the Commonwealth. 

Dye stuffs, drugs, medicinal herbs, and plants are passed by almost 

unnoticed. Snake root and ginseng grow wild in the mountains, the 

latter is sold for a dollar the pound on the spot where gathered ; sumac, 

better than the best Sicilian, grows wild in ail parts of the State. It is 

9 



130 

ju3t beginning to attract a little notice from the country people as an 
article of merchandise.* 

Outside of the cypress swamps of lower Virginia, there is scarcely a 
landscape in the whole State without its oaks. Of all trees, the oak 
family is the most numerous here. The bark of the Spanish, red, and 
chestnut oaks, well rossed, commands readily, in the northern tanneries, 
from $30 to $40 the ton. Bark of the black oak, one of the most com- 
mon varieties, ground into quercitron or manufactured into flavine, com- 
mands, both in the domestic and foreign markets, at the'rate of $50 and up- 
wards to the ton of bark. In Tennessee, and in the mountains of West 
Virginia, they are engaging actively in this business, but little or noth- 
ing is doing with it in Virginia. 

Of all the States in America, Virginia is the most celebrated for the 
beauty, quality, and flavor of her apples. They keep through the win- 
ter, and last till apples come again. The Albemarle pippin, and the ex- 
quisitely beautiful little Lady apple, are well known abroad. They are 
prized in England above all other apples. To encourage the importa- 
tion of them there, the Lords of the Treasury passed an order for the 
admission of the Albemarle pippin into the ports of the realm duty free. 

Albemarle pippins command readily, in the New York market, $16 
the barrel, the Lady apple from $25 to $30, because of its beauty. The 
trees are hardy, prolific, and long lived, and yet I might count on my 
fingers the farmers of Virginia who make the cultivation of them even 
a chief branch of business. 

Water power of vast extent, and mill sites oflFering manufacturing fa- 
cilities of the most desirable nature, free alike from interruption by 
the frosts of winter, or the droughts of summer, abound in all parts of 
the State above tidewater. But there they are, the one unoccupied, 
and the other running by to waste for the want of capital and labor. 

If we look below the surface at the treasures contained there, we shall 
find that the openings for capital and labor, and the field for enterprise 
below the soil are quite as rich with promise, and as inviting as those 
above it. The mineral resources of Virginia are exceedingly valuable. 
In this respect she is said to be the richest state east of the Rocky moun- 
tains, yet, till now, the mining operations here have, with a few excep- 
tions, been confined to what may be called mere scratching into the sides 
of the mountains or into the bowels of the hills. 



* When this was written, (in 1869) there were but two sumac mills in the State, now 
(1877) there are twenty-six, with a capital of nearly $2,000,000 for purchasing alone. 

R. L. M. 



131 

Now, it may be asked, and it is proper that the question should be 
answered, for it is probably passing through the mind of the reader, 
why, considering this vast wilderness of wealth, do not the people there 
explore and develop it themselves. The answer is ready and the reason 
simple. It is because the fields in which they are accustomed to labor 
are more convenient, sufficiently remunerative, and far more congenial 
to their tastes and habits. Their tillage and their pasturage, their truck- 
ing and their fisheries, have been so profitable that in the ten years pre- 
ceding the war — that is, from the year 1850 to 1860 — they had, ac- 
cording to the returns embodied in the United States census table (1860), 
increased the wealth of their State by $360,000,000, and brought it up 
to an aggregate of one thousand and eighty-three millions of dollars 
(^1,083,000,000), making their State the fourth in the Union for wealth. 

During that decade the wealth of the State increased at the rate of 
$36,000,000 a year. These facts and figures show that during those ten 
years each family in the State had gained and accumulated within a 
fraction of $2,000 on the average, dispensing, in the meantime, that 
generous hospitality for which their State is celebrated.* Surely, no 
people were ever more prosperous. 

" Our land," says the superintendent of the census, " is not so tho- 
roughly underdrained and cultivated as that of England, Scotland, or 
Belgium ; but we can, and do now, produce a bushel of wheat at much 
less cost than the most scientific farmer of England can by the best ap- 
proved method of cultivation, ' even if he paid nothing for the use of 
his land.' " 

Moreover, the people in the Tidewater belt have all the bounties of 
the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Some of their oyster planta- 
tions are worth more than $1,000 the acre. 



HEALTH. 

The census contains tables of mortality for all the States, showing 
not only the death rate or the aggregate for every county in every State, 
but the causes also. According to these tables the annual death rate is 
one out of every 



*Thi3 statement includes Western Virginia, as do all of the statements from the 
census of 1860, for when that was taken Western Virginia had not been separated 
from the " Old Dominion," but was a part of it. 



132 

71 persons in Virginia, 

70 persons in Rhode Island, 

69 persons in Kansas, 

67 persons in Missouri, 

50 persons in Sweden and Denmark, 

45 persons in England and France, 

43 persons in Belgium, 

40 persons in Holland, 

37 persons in Prussia. 

The census of 1870 gives the following death rates : 
England, one death of every 46, 
Denmark, one death of every 45, 
Belgium, one death of every 43, 
Norway and Sweden, one death of every 41, 
Austria, one death of every 40, 
Prussia, one death of every 39, 
France, one death of every 32. 

The United States life tables show a very wide range. From the 
highest, Arkansas, where the annual deaths are one to every forty-nine 
inhabitants — a little over 2 per cent, of population — to the lowest, Ore- 
gon, where the death rate is less than one-half of 1 per cent., or one to 
every 209 inhabitants. The following grouping of States and Territo- 
ries exhibits the average yearly proportion of deaths : 

New England States 1 in 68 

Middle States 1 in 88 

Southern States 1 in 70 

Western States 1 in 81 

Northwestern States 1 in 120 

Pacific States 1 in 114 

Atlantic States 1 in 80 

'Gulf States 1 in 63 

Mississippi Valley States 1 in 80 

These tables give evidence of how highly we are favored. It is a 
general idea that the longevity of the Old World exceeds that of- the 
New, but if so it is only in special classes. 

Out of every 100 deaths, there are by violence — 4.1 in Ohio, 4.4 in 
Massachusetts, 6.6 in Virginia, 9.6 in Oregon, 10 in Minnesoto, 13.3 in 
California. All of the States save two have more deaths by violence 
than Ohio, so that Virginia is among the orderly. It will be observed 



133 

that in Minnesota one-tenth of all the people who die there die violent 
deaths. This statement ought to be sufficient to disabuse the public 
mind in Europe touching the alleged lawlessness in Virginia, and to 
vindicate her people as lovers of order and haters of violence. 

DEATHS FROM OTHER CAUSES. 

Consumption and diseases of the respiratory organs carry off more 
people in the United States than all other diseases combined. 

Out of every 100 deaths, there are from these two causes alone — 43.9 
in Virginia, 69 in Maine, 59.7 in Massachusetts, and 59.5 in the rest of the 
New England States, 51.2 in New York, 50 in Michigan, 49.2 in Penn- 
sylvania, 46.3 in Minnesota, and 45.2 in Indiana. 

Fevers. — Out of every 100 deaths, there are from fevers — 7.1 in Vir- 
ginia ; while in Kansas there are 23.1 ; in Nebraska, 19.4 ; Missouri, 
15.8 ; Iowa, 13.2 ; Illinois, 13.1 ; Indiana, 13.6 • Oregon, 9.6 ; Mich- 
igan, 9.1 ; Minnesota, 8.3. ^ 

Thus, according to official documents and the census statistics, the 
fact is brought out that Virginia, so far from having a deadly climate, is 
one of the most healthy, as it is one of the most orderly, States in 
America. 

The Legislature has passed acts to encourage foreign immigration and 
to protect the immigrant. It legalizes contracts made abroad for ser- 
vices to be rendered in Virginia, and has passed what is known as the 
"homestead bill," by which the property of the poor man is protected 
from seizure for debts to the extent of $2,500. The object of this bill 
is to secure a homestead to every family in the Commonwealth. The 
laws of the State are most generous. They afford the immigrant as 
soon as he steps upon the soil all the protection, immunities, and privi- 
leges that are enjoyed by the most favored amongst her own citizens. 

RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP. 

Any foreigner intending to reside in Virginia may take out naturali- 
zation papers, buy, sell, hold, and devise real and personal estate, and 
enjoy all the rights, immunities and privileges of a native-born citizen, 
except that he may not be elected President of the United States. 

The laws of Virginia, as well as the Constitution of the United States, 
as the subjoined extract shows, protect the immigrant in his rights : 
" All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to 
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the 
States wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 



134 

■which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the 
United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, 
or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within 
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 

NATURALIZATION. 

Any free alien, over the age of 21 years, may, at any time after his 
arrival, declare, before any court of record having common law jurisdic- 
tion [with a clerk and seal], his intention to become a citizen and to re- 
nounce forever all foreign allegiance. The declaration must be made at 
least two years before application for citizenship. At the expiration of 
two years after such declaration, and at any time after five years' resi- 
dence, the party desiring naturalization, if then not a citizen, denizen? 
or subject of any country at war with the United States, must appear 
in a court of record, and there be sworn to support the Constitution of 
the United States and renounce all foreign allegiance. If he possessed 
any title or order of nobility it must be renounced, and satisfactory 
proof produced to the court by the testimony of witnesses, citizens of 
the United States, of the five years' residence in this country, one year 
of which must be within the State or territory where the court is held, 
and that during the period of five years the applicant was a person of 
good moral character, and attached to the principles of the Constitu- 
tion ; whereupon he will be admitted to citizenship, and thereby his 
children, under 21 years of age, if dwelling within the United States, 
will also be regarded as citizens. 

When an alien has made his declaration, and dies before being ac- 
tually naturalized, the widow and children become citizens of the United 
States, and are entitled to all rights and privileges as such, upon taking 
the prescribed oaths. 

Any alien being a minor, and under the age of 21 years at the time 
of his arrival, who has resided in the country three years next preced- 
ing his majority, may, after reaching such period, and a five years' res- 
idence [including the three years of his minority], be admitted to citi- 
zenship without a previous declaration of intention, provided he then 
files such declaration, averring also, on oath, and proving to the court, 
that for the past three years it has been his intention to become a citi- 
zen, and also showing the fact of his residence and good character. 

Children of the citizens of the United States born out of the coun- 
try, are deemed citizens, the right, however, not descending to persons 
whose fathers never resided in the country, and any woman who might 



135 

legally be naturalized, married to a citizen of the United States, is held 
to possess citizenship. 

An alien, 21 years and over, of age, who enlists in the regular or 
volunteer armies of the United States, and is honorably discharged 
therefrom, may be admitted to citizenship upon his simple petition and 
satisfactory proof of one year's residence prior to his application, ac- 
companying the same with proof of good moral character and honora- 
ble discharge. 

Recent conventions with Great Britain and several other European 
powers, have established that a naturalized citizen of the United States 
is free from all allegiance to his former government.* 

TAXES. 

In Virginia there is a State tax of fifty cents on the hundred dollars 
of value — I. e., one-half of one per cent, on the cash value of all sorts 
of property. This is the only property tax levied by the State, and as 
the assessed value of all the property in the State is set down at $320,- 
000,000, the annual State property taxes amount in round numbers to 
about $1,600,000. Besides this, there is a poll, license, and income tax, 
and an excise or internal revenue tax which is common to all the States. 

Then in Virginia, as elsewhere, each county and corporation, town or 
city, has its special municipal taxes. These vary for every county or 
town ; some of them have taken shares in railways and borrowed money 
to pay the instalments ; others have issued their bonds for various pur- 
poses, and the inhabitants of such towns and cities tax themselves for 
money to meet these obligations and defray county and town expenses. 

Generally the local taxes, as they are called, do not exceed the State 
tax. In some counties they are much less. 

SCHOOLS. 

By law one-fifth of the whole revenues derived from State taxes is set 
aside for the purposes of education, and the people of each county may 
tax themselves for more. The counties are divided into school districts 
of convenient size, in which a school-house is built, and the school sup- 
ported at the common expense. 

ADVICE TO IMMIGRANTS. 

It will be observed that many of the persons whom I have consulted 
as to the best course for immigrants, with not over $500 in cash, to pur- 

*Bri9f description of the Public Lands of the United States of America. Pre- 
pared by the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the information of for- 
eigners seeking a home in the United States. 



136 

sue, advise, instead of buying, to rent land or crops on shares for a 
few years, and until the new comer has time to look about him and make 
himself acquainted with the industries and customs of the country, the 
mode of cultivation, &c. I think the advice is good, and have been 
confirmed in this impression by the result of observations made during 
a tour through this and all the Southern States this side of the Missis- 
sippi river, except Florida. 

In all that country — I speak exclusively of the rural population — the 
farmers and white laborers of small means, such as the young immi- 
grant is supposed to be, were doing much better than the planters, and, 
as a rule, those who did not already own lands preferred, at starting 
out, to rent or lease, rather than buy, until they had "saved up" a little 
more. 

Those of small means could rent from the large landed proprietors, 
and pay in kind, and also get rid of the land tax, or at any rate, if he 
paid taxes he would pay them only on the land actually under cultiva- 
tion, and not on ten times as much as the planters often do. 

Another consideration which influences the poor man to lease, or rent, 
or crop on shares, instead of buying, is the idea that the price of land 
will not for several years rule any higher than it does now, and that he 
can employ his small capital to more advantage in the purchase of stock 
and implements than on land just yet. 

The average amount of ready money which American immigrants 
from Europe carry to the West is about |500, and the war, I estimate, 
did not leave our white laboring population an average of that much. 
This population is large, much larger than it is supposed abroad to be. 
All of it, including what is known in England and on the Continent 
as small farmers, is prospering more than any other class of our people. 

Politicians in the Northern States, before the war, sought to incul- 
cate the doctrine that work in the cotton field was death to the white 
man, and that labor was considered dishonorable in Southern society. 
This they did for their own purposes. With similar designs they have 
since made "mountains" out of their ku Mux "mole-hills" and other al- 
leged disorders, that they might have a pretext for sending the army 
down into the South to control the elections. When they were over, we 
heard no more of the ku klux or other lawlessness. 

The result of personal inquiries as to the state of affairs in the South- 
ern States may be thus summed up in the shape of answers to formu- 
lated questions : 

What about the ku klux ? 

Ans. We know nothing about it, save what we learn from Yankee 



137 

sources. We consider life and property as safe in the South as any- 
where. 

How does negro labor compare now with what it was before the war ? 

Ans. It takes three negro men now to do the work of two then. 

How does the total product of negro labor throughout the South com- 
pare with what it was before the war ? 

An8. Not half as much as it was then. 

How is that ? Since the labor of three negro men now answer to 
the labor of two before the war ? 

Ans. Before the war it was customary for the women and the boys 
and girls of 10 or 12 years old and upwards to work out in the field. 
Now they rarely do it. 

The present cotton crop is estimated at upwards of four millions of 
bales, the largest except one or two that has ever been made even before 
the war. Who made this crop ? 

Ans. More than half of it is the product of white labor. 

It is a common impression abroad that labor is considered dishonora- 
ble in the South, and that persons who work with their own hands are 
looked down upon. How is this ? 

Ans. On the contrary, there is no part of the world in which a per- 
son who honestly strives to help himself and better his condition, re- 
ceives more encouragement and respect than he does among us. Many 
of our poor young men work hard, and save money to go to college. 
Such are pointed out with praise and commendation and held up as an 
example to the indolent, and always with the remark, "he pays for his 
education with the fruits of his own labor." Some of the greatest men 
the South ever produced were self-made men, and there is no communi- 
ty throughout the South in which you may not find among its leading 
and most useful citizens, men who in early life labored with their own 
hands. 

Since the war society has been greatly disorganized, in consequence 
of the course of the victors. Our leading men were disfranchised, ex- 
cluded from the conduct of public affairs, placed under the ban, and for- 
bid to hold any office, either State or Federal. 

In this state of the case, there was a great rush upon us from the 
North of needy adventurers — "carpet baggers," they were called, be- 
cause they owned nothing but their carpet-bags. These cajoled the ne- 
groes and the scalawags — a class of Southern renegades — wormed 
themselves into place and position, and perpetrated untold malfeasance 
of office. They robbed, plundered and maltreated publicly and pri- 
vately. As the disability of the Southern men were removed, and law 



138 

and order began to assert themselves, these interlopers commenced to 
lose their offices and influence, and to return whence they came, with 
the cry of injustice and persecution upon their lips. 

Recent letters from friends and correspondents in England and on the 
Continent tell me that immigrants are deterred from coming to the 
South by the stories which they hear of lawlessness and disorder, ku- 
klux, &c., among us. They say : " We are anxious to know your opin- 
ion about the condition of the South, and your views about the conflict- 
ing opinions about the ku klux versus carpet-baggers, because the Amer- 
ican papers (Northern) keep up in Europe the impression that the social 
condition of the South is most horriMe, by which the interest of the 
Southern States will be damaged, for neither emigrants nor capital can 
be induced to go to you as long as there is no security for life or prop- 
erty." 

Southern papers do not circulate in Europe, for the simple reason that 
all the mail steamers sail from the North. They carry Northern papers 
that are issued the day of sailing ; for when Southern papers are brought 
on board they are already several days old. When the steamer arrives 
in Europe, the latest American papers are inquired for. These are the 
Northern journals that are issued the day of sailing or the day before; 
all others are out of date, and therefore are not read. 

It should be remembered, therefore, that Europe hears only one side 
concerning us, and the champions of that side are unfriendly towards 
the South. 

A simple, flat and indignant denial is the only answer that can be 
given to a certain class of falsehoods, and this is of them, and such 
a denial I have already given. 

Perhaps the weight of this denial may be increased, and the force of 
the statements already made augmented by the mention of this additional 
fact : There is no part of Europe in which the people, the country peo- 
ple, lie down with a sense of such security, as do the rural population of 
the South. They often go to bed without locking up, and habitually 
sleep in undisturbed repose behind doors and windows without catches, 
or so slightly fastened that any one who tries may find easy and noiseless 
entrances. Hen-roosts, meat-houses, barns and stables are sometimes 
robbed, but I do not remember in all my experience in the South of 
having once heard of a country dwelling in the South having been en- 
tered by burglars. 

In the Southern cities and towns there are bolts and bars and chains 
tq doors, and windows, as in other cities and dwellings, are fastened 



139 

every night through fear of robbers — not -eo in the rural districts, which 
contain more than 90 per cent, of the total population. 

All communities are liable to acts of violence, but the South, especially 
those States which are now controlled by their own sons, are not more 
so than the North. New York papers tell of the murder of one of their 
chief merchants as he stept from a street-car at 10 P. M. in one of the 
great thoroughfares and well lighted streets of that city. According to 
the Judge, as he sat on the bench, conductors of these cars are leagued 
with murderers and robbers. 

Tl^e miners of Pennsylvania are at this moment on strike, murdering 
and'/obbing, as the Trades Union of Sheffield and other parts of Eng- 
land did a few years ago ; but it does not suit the purpose of either of 
the great political parties to make capital out of such outrages as these.* 
They are treated, and very properly so, as coming within the category 
of those violations of the law which are liable to occur in all communi- 
ties, and which it is impossible for the constituted authorities always to 
prevent. 

But like transgressions in the South are not so treated by manufac- 
turers of public opinion in the North, and for this reason : the North ia 
divided into two great political parties. In general the men — the white 
men of the South, sympathise with one of these parties — the negroes, 
scalawags and carpet-baggers with the other. This class, especially the 
negroes, are ignorant, credulous and superstitious. Being easily im- 
posed upon, they are used by their crafty white associates for the con- 
coction of all sorts of stories for political effect and party purposes. 

Apropos. The morning papers bring this letter from Northern men 
settled in the South, and which I introduce without a word of comment. 
It is taken from the New York Tribune: 

"Ku Klux No Bar to Northern Settlers. 

To the Editors of the Tribune : 

Sir, — We noticed recently a great many publications in your paper 
concerning outrages committed by ku klux in the Southern States. We 
know nothing of the truth or falsity of these charges, and shall not un- 
dertake their refutation,'except so far as they may be understood to ap- 
ply to the whole South. The undersigned, all Northern men by birth 
and education, have, since the war, purchased homes and settled, some 
in Pittsylvania county, Va., and others in Carroll and Rockingham 
counties, North Carolina, and many of us are Republicans and regular 

* There was not the slightest disorder in any part of the South during the recent 
great railway strike in the North and Northwestern States. — R. L. M. 



140 

readers of and subscribers to The Tribune. We have reason to believe 
that a large number of our Northern friends earnestly desire to emigrate 
to the South, supply themselves with cheap lands, and enjoy this charm- 
ing climate; and we fear that they maybe deterred from doing so by the 
publications to which we have referred. It is for this reason we request 
the insertion of this letter in your paper, in the hope that such other 
papers of the North, as desire to do justice to every portion of the coun- 
try, will give it circulation. 

We can say in truth that not only persons and property are safe in 
the sections of Virginia and North Carolina in which we reside, but that 
we never lived in a moire orderly or law-abiding community. We have 
been kindly received by the entire people ; our intercourse with them 
has been in all respects as agreeable as we could have desired. We 
have seen no disposition to mistreat or even slight us on account of our 
politics ; on the contrary, we have uniformly been treated with civility 
and respect by every one with whom we have come in contact. It ia 
but an act of justice to ourselves and to the people living in the States 
of our adoption that we should say what we have said, and we trust yoa 
will give it a place in your paper. 

James Robinson, Canada ; Rev. John Branch, Tioga county, N. Y. ; A. 
G. Newell, Tioga county, N. Y.; S. L. Hitchcock, Brown county, N. Y.; 
Fred'k Hitchcock, Brown county, N. Y.; J. F. Councilman, Tioga county, 
N. Y.; Austin H. Prentice, Tioga county, N. Y.; James Hutchinson, Penn.; 
John Hutchinson, Penn.; Wm. H. Davis, Indiana county, Penn.; R. S. 
Davis, Indiana county, Penn.; C. Hinkley, Steuben county, N. Y; H. Hink- 
ley, H. B. Stephens, Steuben county, N. Y.; Chas. H. Rogers, Waverly, 
Tiago county, N. Y.; James Ogden, Penn.; William Lander, Steuben county, 
N. Y.; Johnathan Betner, Westmoreland, Penn. ; William P. Spaulding, 
Michigan. 

New York, April 27, 1871." 

All the Southern States are very anxious for immigration, and are 
doing everything that they can to encourage it. They are especially de- 
sirous for Europeans to come and settle within their borders. These 
immigrants are, for the most part, democratic in feeling, and if they 
were to come, they would, in all probability, cast their votes with the 
solid men of the South rather than with the carpet-baggers and political 
adventurers who come here from the North. 

A comparatively small number of Europeans, or of substantial men 
from the North, thus coming and voting, would turn the scales and carry 
the whole South in the next Presidential election against the party in 
power. 



141 

To prevent such a result, and to perpetuate that power, the pretended 
ku Mux disorders were devised and largely circulated to frighten the 
European immigrant away, inducing him to believe that it is as much as 
his life is worth to come into one of the Southern States. Under the 
hue and cry thus falsely raised, the *'^Ku Mux' bill was passed by the 
government, the real object of which was to give it the power of con- 
trolling the vote of the South in the election. 

Texas is one of the Southern States. There is a large German im- 
migration there, and flourishing settlements. There is as much ku klux 
in Texas as anywhere, and I venture to say that the reports which these 
settlers send back to Fatherland do not show that they are troubled by 
ku Mux, or have any apprehensions as to security and safety, either of 
person or property. 

I have asked my neighbors and acquaintances. With one voice they 
say, "All we know about the ku klux is what we learn from the North- 
ern papers." 

Respectfully submitted to General Smith, Superintendent V. M. I., 
Lexington, Va. M. F. MAURY, 

Professor of Physics, and in charge of 

May, 1871. Physical Survey of the State. 



It is perhaps due to the memory of Commodore Maury to state that this chapter, 
and, indeed, the whole book was written immediately upon the close of the war, 
when feelings existed in both sections which have been much modified since. Strict 
justice to tbe negro race requires it to be stated that they have improved much since 
the time when he wrote, and are displaying qualities as laborers and citizens which 
were not then generally expected from them. They show, too, now much more sym- 
pathy with the whites in their own region than they exhibited at first. But their 
general characteristics as a race still separate them very distinctly from their ancient 
masters. They constitute, however, an element to which the emigrant may fairly 
look for valuable assistance in struggling with the difficulties of a new settlement. 

STATE BOARD OF EMIGRATION. 



142 



THE MAP. 

No funds have yet been provided for the general survey of the State. The Map 
hereunto appended is offered, not as a map strictly accurate in all its details, but as 
a map of the State les3 erroneous than any hitherto published. 

Supposing the old 9-sheet map, considering that it was constructed by the authority 
of the Legislature of the State, to be sufficiently accurate for our purposes, it was 
placed in the hands of the chartographer, with instructions to project a map on a 
more convenient scale, but large enough to answer the purpose, both as a wall- and 
a pocket-map for the use of travelers, immigrants and others. 

When the counties were divided into townships, sections, by counties, of the old 
9-sheet map were taken and sent to each one of the county judges, with the request 
that he would cause these new divisions within his district to be marked off thereon, 
and returned to this office. He was also requested to confer with the County Sur- 
veyor and others, well acquainted with the geographical features of his county, and 
designate all the errors on the section, whether of omission or commission, with the 
view of making the corrections on the new map. 

The reply often came back to the effect that the map section was so inaccurate that 
the townships could not be projected thereon. 

This induced a special examination of the 9-sheet map. It was found so errone- 
ous that I decided to abandon all the work that had been done upon the new map, to 
reject the old 9-sheet map for reference whenever any authority could be found to 
look behind it, and take up the county maps, from which it professes to have been 
chiefly constructed, and to use also the war, coast survey, railway, and all the other 
maps and surveys within reach relating to any part of the State. 

These authorities are mentioned on the map. 

Ik was impossible to get the township lines. 

M. F. MAURY, LL. D., &c., &c. 



In preparing this Report for the press, by request of the State Board 
of Immigration, I have thought it best not to make any alteration in 
the prices of corn and -wheat given in the various estimates of receipts 
and expenses kindly furnished several years ago by the farmers through- 
out the State, as well because the statements are given over the gentle- 
men's own names, and were strictly accurate at the dates when they 
were prepared, as because the market price of grain is constantly fluc- 
tuating, so that any calculation into which it enters can only be an ap- 
proximation. 

The price of wheat this summer is from $1.60 to §1.80 per bushel, 
and of corn about 70 cents. On the other hand, the price of land, labor 
and supplies are considerably less than the estimates — while those of the 
other products of the farm are well sustained, and, as to some articles, 
even higher. 

July 1, 1877. RICHARD L. MAURY. 



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